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PRESENT DAY PARIS 



AND 



THE BATTLEFIELDS 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

AND 

THE BATTLEFIELDS 

THE VISITOR'S HANDBOOK WITH THE CHIEF 
EXCURSIONS TO THE BATTLEFIELDS 



BY 

SOMMERVILLE STORY 




D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

NEW YORK LONDON 

1920 



-pCi'i^^ 



COPYRIGHT, 1920, BT 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 



PHINTBD IN THB trNITE!D STATES OF AMEBICA 



SS^ 16 }9?0 



CONTENTS 

CBAFTEB PAOB 

I. Paris of To-day 1 

II. Fashionable Paris — The Madeleine, Place de 
LA Concorde, and l'Avenub deb Champs 
Elys^es 8 

III. Intellectual Paris — The Grand Boulevards, 

THE Opera 21 

IV. The Origins op Paris — The City Island, Notre 

Dame, the Sainte Chapelle 32 

V. Royal Paris — The Tuileries, Rue db la Patx, 

the Louvre 48 

VI. Paris op the Exhibitions and Literary Paris — 
the Trocadero Palace, Napoleon's Tomb, 
THE Eiffel Tower, the Academies ... 61 
VII. Paris op the Middle Ages — The Marais, the 

Bastille 72 

VIII. The Art, Gayety and Genius op Paris — The 

Park Monceau, Montmartrb 83 

IX. Aristocratic and Pious Paris — The Luxem- 
bourg, THE Pantheon, St. Etienne, St. 

SULPICE 91 

X. The Paris op Pleasure — The Bois de Bou- 
logne, THE Race Courses 105 

XI. The Stomach of Paris — the Central Markets, 

St. Eustache, Memories op the Past . . 112 
XII. Paris in Danger 119 

XIII. The Paris Homes op Famous Americans . . 125 

XIV. Paris Beyond the Walls 128 

XV. Excursions to the Battlefields .... 142 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 
AND THE BATTLEFIELDS 



CHAPTER I 

PARIS OF TO-DAY 

Next to the delight of visiting a new and inter- 
esting place oneself for the first time, I know no ex- 
perience so pleasant as to guide a friend, provided 
he or she be receptive, interested and enthusiastic, 
through a town or country which one knows well. 
iSTot too well, however; there must he a margin left 
for little discoveries together — for the charm some- 
times of the unknown amid what one knows — just 
as one likes to find unexpected traits in one whom 
one loves and thinks one knows thoroughly. 

So, reader, I shall assume that you do not know 
Paris, and that I am to guide you in this delightful 
journey that you are making for the first time — I 
who know the Queen of cities well, though she still 
has many and many a surprise for me, as I find out 
every day. 

Let me presume it is your first visit to Paris then. 
You have heard of the city all your life as one of 
the most wonderful places on earth; many of the 

1 



PRESENT DAT PARIS 

spots in it are doubtless as well known to you hj 
name as the places in your native town. Half the 
best stories in the world are laid partly or wholly 
in and around Paris, and you cannot have done much 
reading of ancient or modern things without your 
mind reverting continually to this city and its great 
names and its famous sites. 

What, then, will strike you most in Paris when 
you have been here a few days — what is it that 
strikes most of us? Eirst and foremost, it will be 
borne in upon you that this city is made for the 
pleasure of its inhabitants and visitors. There is 
everything here for the delight of the eye and the 
senses. It is a city full of light and light gayety. 
There is business taking place; there is work being 
done, but they are being done brightly and philosoph- 
ically, as if they were the means to living and not 
the only reason for living. Nor are these things too 
evident; they are kept in the background, and the 
pleasantness of life is thrust forward as much as 
possible. The Parisian tries to keep sombemess 
and gloom in the background. The city has its 
shadows and its tragedies, but it is the high lights of 
the picture that seize and arrest the attention. Look 
at the crowds in the cafes — ^those cafes which seem 
never to empty, morning, noon or evening; look at 
the serried lines of promenaders up and down the 
boulevards, and at the men and the girls going to 
and from their work or just amusing themselves (and 
to judge by appearances these latter are in the ma- 

2 



PARIS OF TO-DAY 

joritj). There is no furtiveness, no haste about 
them — no signs of the struggle for life that one meets 
with in some great cities. They can look life and 
the world in the face, for they take it all gayly and 
jauntily. That is the prevailing atmosphere of 
Paris. The French power of recuperation is won- 
derful, as has been proved over and over again in 
their history. 

i!^apoleon, in one of his pettish moods, said the 
French were children. This may be so, but they are 
knowing children, far from the fretfulness of age, 
and not easily terrified by the problems of existence. 

Another thing that will strike you when you know 
the French capital a little better is that it is the most 
modem of cities. Though its origin dates from re- 
mote antiquity, and though it loves its picturesque 
past, Paris is intensely up-to-date and of to-day. 
Every new thought pulsates through, its arteries in 
one way or another ; every hour of the day new ideas 
are jostling the old ones and making a way for them- 
selves. The watchword of the politicians — those that 
"count" — is the Revolution, and change and sur- 
prises and the clash of thought make up life here. 

Remember, too, that Paris is France in a far 
greater degree than you can say that London is Eng- 
land, or Rome is Italy, or Berlin, Germany, or ISTew 
York or Chicago or any other city is the United 
States. Paris is the heart and the brains of the 
country, although there is such a great and intensive 
life in many a provincial center. 

3 



PRESEIS^T DAY PARIS 

Just as France wants to be loved by her neighbors, 
so Paris likes to be admired and made much of by 
those who approach her. She is laid out to attract. 
You must admire — or not stop here. The prevailing 
impression is that of a city of pleasure, from the 
bright clear air (which seems to have been brought 
here on purpose, and indeed it was for this that the 
location was chosen by the early builders of Paris, 
or Lutetia) to the very lamp-posts, which are so 
graceful and artistic, and the alluring way in which 
the cafe chairs are arranged. 

The artistic taste of the people strikes you at every 
turn. You will have noticed the women, whether 
they be ladies of leisure or working women — did 
you ever see women that dressed so admirably, not 
necessarily as regards the richness of their apparel 
but the way in which it is all worn and the dainti- 
ness of the details? 

There are few sordid-looking houses, except in one 
or two of the outlying quarters. The general air of 
well-being and comfort is accounted for b ythe flat- 
living habit, as the poor often reside in the same 
houses as the well-to-do — on the top floors. Of 
course, there are objectionable features about Paris; 
you will find them out if you have the critical fac- 
ulty, but they are quickly and easily passed over in 
the general impression. 

You will learn a great deal of the history and 
the art of Paris as you go about your sight-seeing, 
but your chief business is with the Paris of to-day 

4 



PARIS OF TO-DAY 

and her efforts to make your stay within her walls 
agreeable and profitable. It is not given to everybody 
who enters M'ithin her walls to do so, but if you are 
able to come into contact with French people, your 
stay will be rendered very much more enjoyable, and 
you will learn a great many things that this little 
book cannot tell you, and that books about the city 
never do tell you. You will learn what a nation of 
artists this people is, and yet how critical they are ; 
you will learn what a great patriotism and love of 
their own past beat in the breasts of those who super- 
ficially seem to think but of the moment; and how 
their great strength is the family tie. The gi^eat sta- 
bility of France resides in the country's thoroughly 
gTounded habits of thrift. ISTothing is ever wasted 
in this country; and as a wise lady put it to me in 
conversation once, the waste of one average American 
family (in pre-war times) would often keep a dozen 
modest French families. 

There is no city or country where the theater plays 
so great a part in the life of the people. It is the 
loading form of amusement (often it joins instruc- 
tion with pleasure) in which everybody indulges; 
and nowhere is the theatrical art carried to such a 
high state of perfection. The French actors and 
actresses are on the whole the best in the world. Not 
only are there theatrical performances every day of 
the week and sometimes twice a day, especially Sun- 
days, but on National holidays there are free per- 
formances at the four State-endowed theaters. In 

5 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

summer we have open air performances in some of 
the parks or chosen suburbs. There are societies for 
aiding one to go to the theater economically, and 
theater-going to those who live in the country and 
know how to go about it, is cheaper than in any 
other country. 

A word as to the table. The French understand 
the arts of cooking and of "ministering to the inner 
man" better than any other people, variety being the 
kejTQote of their ideas in this respect, and by this I 
mean the kind of variety that goes with economy. 
They have dozens or more ways of cooking a potato, 
and innumerable methods of "doing" an egg. The 
war has, unfortunately, wrought great changes among 
the Paris restaurants, and nearly everything that 
was written about them some years ago is now out-of- 
date ; but you will try some of them yourself, choos- 
ing those most suited to your purse, which is easy 
nowadays, since all ai-e forced by law to put up their 
prices visibly on the outsides of their establishments. 
Do not imagine, however, that it is only in the very 
high-priced houses that you will find good cooking 
and good wines. 

Finally, remember this — that Paris is the most 
self-contained and self-satisfied city in the world. A 
great majority of her citizens know little of and care 
less for what happens outside her walls; if their 
thoughts stray to other cities, it is on account of their 
interest in what Parisians are doing there. Civis 
Romanus sum is their motto, and it suffices them; 

6 



PARIS OF TO-DAY 

tliese walls and a few acres round them contain a 
cosmos. It is true that for eomo years past the Pari- 
sian has been gradually if slowly widening his out- 
look, but it remains, nevertheless, a fact that for him 
his city is the center of the universe. It was more 
so than ever during the war, and in these days of 
victory it is doubly loved from the dangers that were 
gone through. 



CHAPTER II 

FASHIONABLE tAEIS— THE MADELEINE PLACE DE 

LA CONCOEDE, AND L 'AVENUE DES 

CHAMPS ELYSEES 

A VEEY suitable center from which to begin one's 
sight-seeing in Paris is the Church of the Madeleine, 
on the Boulevard of that name. The Madeleine, im- 
posing outside, with its magnificent lines of pillars, 
but rather gloomy within, is the most fashionable of 
Paris churches, and here a good many society wed- 
dings and other ceremonials take place. A fash- 
ionable wedding here is often a very picturesque 
sight, not the least interesting part of which is the 
crowds of "midinettes" and others who watch. It 
has had a varied history. In 1806 ISTapoleon decreed 
that the church should become a temple of glory to 
commemorate the deeds of the Grand Army. After 
1815, however — after the battle which changed his- 
tory and sent the great Emperor into exile, the 
temple returned to its former purposes of a church. 
The bronze doors of the church represent the Last 
Judginent, and there are some fine sculptures inside, 
as well as an interesting, if rather incoherent, fresco 
(by Ziegler) over the altar, representing the history 
of Christianity, which was brought to France by Clo- 

8 



FASHIONABLE PARTS 

vis, and introducing ancient and modern personages. 
Some of the Communards were slaughtered here in 
1871. 

During the recent war the Madeleine was hit once 
by a shell from the notorious long-range gun, 
"Bertha." It was at eight o'clock on the evening of 
All Saints' day in the summer of 1918, and as that 
was the first shell fired on that day, it came literally 
as a ''bolt from the blue," even in those nerve- 
racking times. The head of a Saint at the back of 
the church facing the Rue Tronchet was knocked off, 
as well as portions of the walls and vaulting (the 
headless Saint can still be seen), while the shell 
buried itself in the cloister beneath, and hot smok- 
ing splinters from it were picked up two streets 
away. 

In the two squares on either side of the church 
flower markets are held every Tuesday and Friday, 
and the flower stalls are a beautiful sight at any 
time of the year, but, of course, more particularly 
so in spring and early summer. The French are 
very fond of flowers, and on the eve of eveiy Saints' 
day it is the custom (as, of course, in all Catholic 
countries) to carry flowers to those who bear the 
name. It is their "fete," and the fete day is more 
celebrated in these countries than the birthday. The 
flower shops and stalls of Paris in general are among 
its most attractive sights. At Christmas time you 
will find the Madeleine market filled with Christ- 
mas trees, holly and mistletoe, though it is only of 

9 



PRESENT DAY PAEJS 

recent yeara that the French have adopted these 
Ynletide customs, 

ISTow stand with your back to the fagade of the 
Madeleine, and note the fine sweep >f street in 
front of you. It ends in another mo- M- 

ing — the French Chamber of D^ 
House of Parliament, which is on 
of the Seine. To the right of you there 
fine sweep of boulevard, ending in the Chur^ 
Augustine. On the left stretch the v 

vards a distance of two and one-br ^'oift 

Bastille. There are frequent fine 1 

kind in the Paris streets, terminatj. 
in a monumental building, which differentiates irar- 
from many other old cities, where j a come ^ 
historical buildings in comers as if ' 
This is largely the work of Baron Hau.o. .oiju 
his successors. 

The Rue Poyale, down which we are now walk- 
ing, is one of the fashionable stre'et^^ ''' Paris. That 
first building on the left, now a busiv ie, occu- 

pies the site of a once famous *f-^ e'" Jit, where 
General Boulanger, the soldier whoL .'.^•dt have been 
dictator of France, used to meet his friends and 
adherents. There are several other good class res- 
taurants in this street, where one can partake of 
excellent French cooking, and where, :^':' igb the'' are 
not cheap, one at least gets- »'s £tf ""^ 

one is careful. The middle ' h^ j;. 

cut by the Rue St. Honore aj., ,.a, .g St. 

10 



FiSHIONABLE PARIS 

Ilonore, running respectively left and right. Thd 
Fanbourg waa onco a residential suburb of the 
French aristocr icy ; that is perhaps why it now con- 
tains so mam old furniture dealers. A little way 
dov ■ }tt, Ko. 39, is the British Embassy, 

'go with a fine garden, which was 
. , ji a.-*rincess Pauline Borghese, sister 
; X, and was bought from her by the Duke 
/iiji^on for the British Government, since 
• u;" "^ "^used a succession of able Ambassa- 
'H^ard stayed there more than once, 
rr^ing and Queen have also resided 

f^ri? nrther on is the Elysee Palace, which is the 
■■^\ and prio^te residence of the President of the 
■ •/'[•■0 Ministerial Councils are mostly held 
ik. J ■ fJ^ijofc-me de Pompadour onco resided in this 
mansion, as did also later the Duchesse de Bourbon, 
and still later Joachim Murat, Josephine, Louis 
Bonaparte, thr )uc de Berri and Queen Hortense. 
It is fi autiful salons, some of which are 

hung witi ' 'obelin tapestries. The Palace is 

separated fj...^. the Champs Elysees by a fine gar- 
den. 

If we come back to the Rue Royale we find on our 
right the tavern Maxim's, one of the most famous 
of i ^e hars " ^d dining and supping places of the 
id on- . leading center of nocturnal 
^ ^ /e' ' ' pensive character. Between 

Maxi I ^ m building at the comer of the 

11 



PRESENT DAY PAEIS 

Place de la Concorde, the visitor should notice a sim- 
ple poster on the wall, which is protected to-day by 
a thick sheet of glass. It is one of the most sacred 
documents in recent French history, being the order 
for the mobilization of the French annies in 1914. 
The big corner building on the left as we enter 
the Place is the Ministry of Marine. Opposite and 
a little to the left are the Tuileries Gardens, to 
which we shall return. 

The Place de la Concorde is perhaps the 
most beautiful square in Europe and certainly 
one of the most historical. It was once called Place 
Louis XV, and if you look on the wall of the corner 
nearest the Champs Elysees, turning into the little 
Rue Boissy d'Anglas, you will still see the old in- 
scription, almost effaced. This building, by the way, 
was formerly the mansion of one of the great French 
families; it is now the Hotel Crillon, and during 
the latter part of the war and the peace negotiations 
was an American headquarters. Next to it is the 
Automobile Club de France. . 

In 1770 a terrible event occurred in the Place de 
la Concorde, which was doubtless at the time and 
for long afterwards referred to as a presage of evil. 
At a fireworks display, given to celebrate the mar- 
riage of the Dauphin (afterwards Louis XVI)' 
with Marie Antoinette, a panic and stampede took: 
place, and some twelve hundred people were killed 
and two thousand injured. Awful presage indeed! 
It marked the beginning of the ill-feeling against 

12 



FASHIOiS^ABLE PARIS 

the "Austrian" Queen. A little over twenty years 
later the guillotine was erected in the square, then 
named Place de la Revolution, and not only the 
King and the beautiful Marie Antoinette lost their 
heads there, but also Charlotte Corday, Madame 
Roland ("O Liberty! Liberty! what crimes are com- 
mitted in thy name!"), Danton, Camille Desmou- 
lins, Robespierre, and two thousand other people 
perished here in less than two years. 

The Place was named "de la Concorde" in 1799 ; 
several times changed, this name was restored in 
1830, and has been preserved since. Russian and 
Prussian troops encamped here in 1814, in which 
year there was held here a service in memory of 
Louis XVI, attended by three Monarchs; English 
troops were encamped here the following year, after 
Waterloo, and Prussian troops were here again in 
1871, after the capitulation of Paris. During the 
Commune the Place was the scene of a bloody strug- 
gle. 

During the recent war the Place and the Ave- 
nue des Champs Elysees were the scenes of numer- 
ous martial and patriotic processions and manifesta- 
tions, in which the troops of all the Allies took part. 
The first contingent of American troops who came 
to France under General Pershing received an up- 
roarious welcome, as they accompanied the "Star- 
Spangled Banner" across this historic square. But 
the most stirring of all the sights witnessed here 
was the march of the Fourteenth of July, 1919 — 



PKESENT DAY PAKIS 

the first of the new peace and victory, when all 
the Allies and their Generals marched through ser- 
ried, roaring ranks of Parisians. 

The obelisk in the center of the Place was pre- 
sented to Louis Philippe by Mehemet Ali, of Egypt. 
Originally from Thebes, it is said to boast the re- 
spectable age of over three thousand years, and con- 
sists of a single block of red granite seventy-six feet 
high, weighing two hundred and forty tons. The 
beautiful fountains are copied after those at St. 
Peter's, Pome; the one on the south side is dedi- 
cated to the seas, that on the north, to the rivers. 

Besides military demonstrations, the Place de la 
Concorde has always been the scene of interesting 
patriotic manifestations. Of the eight statues round 
the square, representing the chief Erench cities, the 
first two on the left are the most interesting (they 
are, curiously enough, both by Pradier). The sec- 
ond one is Strasbourg, which was in the hands 
of the Germans from 1871 until the end of the 
present war, when Alsace reverted to Erance, and 
during all that time the statue was covered with 
crape and bunting and wreaths. During the great 
war Lille, the capital of Erench Elanders, shared 
the same fate as its sister, and the first statue on the 
left, dedicated to that city, was invested with the 
same pathetic interest. The wreaths were placed 
on the statues by patriotic societies on various anni- 
versaries, such as the Eourteenth of July. These 
emblems were taken down when the cities were re- 

14 



FASHIONABLE PARIS 

stored to the French people. On July 14, 1918, 
and the succeeding days, booths were opened beside 
the statues for the sale of i^ational Defense bonds, 
and a wonderfully brisk business was done. 

''Qui vive? France, quand meme!" a notable ut- 
terance of the patriot Deroulede, was the inscription 
which for years hung on the Strasbourg monument, 
and now that France has come victorious out of the 
great and terrible struggle one realizes its truth in- 
deed. Truly France lives, more superbly than ever ! 

Turning towards the Champs Elysees (or Elysian 
Fields), look now up to the Arc de Triomphe. What 
a splendid triumphal route ! The Avenue is one and 
one-third miles in leng-th, and the name was given to 
it in the seventeenth century, those gallant days of 
musketeers and swashbucklers, when they loved so- 
norous names. It has always been the favorite prom- 
enade of Parisians, and small wonder. On a fine 
spring day, when the "elegant equipages," as the 
last generation used to call them, roll up the Avenue 
to the race courses, the sight is a very inspiring one. 
On the first Fourteenth of July after the outbreak 
of the war the ashes of Eouget de Lisle, the composer 
of the national hymn, *'La Marseillaise," were 
brought down the Avenue en route for the Pantheon, 
the President and all the great ofiicers of State ac- 
companying in a solemn procession. 

Before proceeding up the Champs Elysees, we 
must go and stand on the Concorde Bridge and look 
up and down the Seine. The view from this bridge, 

15 



PEESENT DAY PAEIS 

with the Eiffel Tower on the one side and the distant 
pinnacles of Notre Dame and other landmarks of 
old Paris on the other, is one of the wonders of the 
world. No matter at what time of the day you 
contemplate it, whether in the early morning in the 
full blaze of the midda}^ sun, or in the evening, when 
the bluish gray mists creep up the river, or once 
again at night, when the lights of heaven are re- 
flected in the waters, and the dimmer diadems of 
the bridges stand in ranks one after another like 
ghostly courtiers, the scene is always full of beauty 
and fascination. 

Opposite you is the Chamber of Deputies, the 
fagade of which, somewhat more recent than the rest 
of the building, looks like a replica of the Madeleine 
facing it. The original name of the building is the 
Palais Bourbon, and it dates from 1Y22. It was 
confiscated in 1790, but restored to the Prince de 
Conde in 1814, and afterwards purchased by the 
Government. Around it are statues of gi-eat men 
and of the goddesses whose qualities they are sup- 
posed to have possessed. The Chamber of Deputies 
is not as imposing to look at as either St. Stephen's, 
at Westminster, London, or the Capitol at Washing- 
ton, but as weighty and thrilling problems have been, 
settled within its walls during the past century, and 
many illustrious men have sat on its benches. The 
Palace can be visited when the Chamber is not in 
session; or when it is, by asking a deputy for a 
ticket of admission. 

16 



FASHIONABLE PARIS 

Retracing one's steps and going up the Champs 
Elysees, the visitor's attention is first of all arrested 
by the two famous statues of horses by Coustou flank- 
ing it on either side. They are known as the "Marly 
Horses," as they came from Louis XIV's Chateau at 
^larly, which was destroyed during the Revolution. 
On either side, but particularly on the right, are a 
number of summer restaurants and music halls — 
Les Ambassadeurs and Alcazar (R), Jardin de Paris 
(L), etc. I would draw your attention particularly 
to one statue on the right among the trees as you go 
up the Avenue — that of Alphonse Daudet, the 
famous writer, because it is such a charming ex- 
ample of the French sculptor's art. What a delight- 
ful fellow and what a gentleman Daudet looks, just 
as if he were going to receive you in his salon I 
Daudet has been called the Dickens of France, and, 
as a rough comparison, it is good enough, although 
he is extremely different from the English man of 
genius. Nothing more charming than some of his 
stories has ever appeared in the French language, 
and those who have not read the "Pope's Mule" have 
missed one of the choicest stories in the world, while 
his praise of onion soup can be placed beside Thack- 
eray's praise of "Bouillabaise." 

Nor must I omit to mention the children's play- 
ground in the Champs Elysees — the excellent sand 
heaps and the goat carriages, the vendors of hoops 
and gingerbread, and, above all, the Guignol, or 
Punch and Judy Show. Guignol is a great insti- 

17 



PEESENT DAY PAEIS 

tution in France, and considerable talent is employed 
in devising programs for the youthful auditors and 
their attendants. During the war Guignol was 
quite warlike and patriotic. 

The two imposing buildings we now come to — 
the Petit Palais and the Grand Palais — were built 
for the 1900 Exhibition. In the larger one, adorned 
with bronze groiTps, friezes, and other sculptural deco- 
rations, are held at various times of the year the 
different art salons, as well as automobile and avia- 
tion salons and horse shows. During the war this 
big building was a hospital, and in one wing there 
was established a school, with workshops, for the 
training of men disabled in the war, an institution 
established by representative members of the for- 
eign colonies of the city. The picture salons were 
held as far back as 1673 (though not, of course, in 
this building) and were always a social function, for 
all Erench people are more or less connoisseurs in 
art matters. The Petit Palais is mostly devoted to 
art collections belonging to the city of Paris. 

Let us pause to admire the magnificent Alexander 
III Bridge, which was erected as a memorial of the 
visit to Paris of that Czar and of France's alliance 
with Russia. The bridge has proved the more dura- 
ble of the two. The first stone was laid by ^Nicholas 
II in 1896. Beyond it are the Esplanade des In- 
valides and Hotel des Invalides. 

Up to this part of the Avenue des Champs Elysees, 
it is flanked on either side by two other avenues — on 

18 



FASHIONABLE PARIS 

the left, besido tlio river, the Cours la Heine (made 
by order of Queeu Marie de Medicis in IGIO) and 
on tlie right the Avenue Gabriel, which ends beside 
the back entrance of the garden of the Elysees Pal- 
ace (note the Gallic cock on the gate) and the Ave- 
nue Marigny. We pass, too, the Theatre Marigny, 
and come to the Eond-Point des Champs Elysees. 

The large hotels in the upper part of the Champs 
Elysees and the few large business establishments 
date from only a few years back. Before then there 
were only residences amid the trees, some of them 
veritable mansions. The Avenue Montaigne, on our 
left as we continue the ascent, used to be called the 
"Alley of the Widows." About the time of the Revo- 
lution Madame Tallien's country house was out here. 
Some of the streets in this neighborhood were re- 
named during the war after the rulers of Allied 
countries. 

If we are minded to go a little way down the Ave- 
nue d'xlutin, we shall come to Rue Jean Coujon, 
where there ^s the Chapel of the Charity Bazaar, 
erected in memory of that terrible tragedy when so 
many people lost their lives in the bazaar fire on this 
spot. 

We are now at the Arc do Triomphe, designed 
in 1806 for Napoleon I and completed in 1838 un- 
der Louis Philippe. The cost was some 10,000,000 
francs. The sculpture and inscriptions record the 
triumphs of the great Emperor. The finest of these 
groups is held by connc'eseurs to be the one on the 

19 



PKESENT DAY PAEIS 

right-hand side as we face the monument — the "De- 
parture of Troops" (1792), by Eude. A fine view 
is to be had from the top of the monument. In May, 
1885, the body of Victor Hugo, the great poet, hiy 
for twenty-four hours in state under the arch, the 
coffin being covered with a pall of black and silver 
and royal purple, after which, amid a nation's 
mourning, it was conveyed to the Pantheon for 
burial. The victorious troops marched under the 
arch on July 14, 1919, and for that purpose the 
iron chains and posts were removed for the first time 
for many years. 

The place here is known as the Place de I'Etoile, 
because it is the center of a star of avenues radiating 
to various parts of the city. 



CHAPTER III 

INTELLECTUAL PARIS— THE GRAND BOULEVARDS, 
THE OPERA 

Start again from the Madeleine, which is the be- 
ginning of the Grand Boulevards. These boulevards 
once marked the northern limit of the city, but the 
moats were filled up in Louis XIV's time. Though 
really a continuous thoroughfare, the Boulevard 
changes its name frequently. 

The Boulevard des Capucins is so called from a 
convent of Capuchin monks that once existed here; 
the Boulevard des Italiens, after the Italian players 
who were the rage in Paris in the eighteenth century. 
On the Boulevard des Capucins (right) is the small 
Theatre des Capucins, which is famous as the home 
of the typically Parisian light comedy (the late 
King Edward of England was a frequenter during 
his visits to Paris). Presently we come to the Grand 
Opera in the Place de I'Opera — the most superb mod- 
ern building in Paris, which cost thirty-seven million 
francs to build. Begun in 1861, it was finished in 
1874 from the designs of Charles Gamier, the archi- 
tect also of the Casino and Theater of Monte Carlo. 
There is a gilt bust of him on the left side. There 
are some 'fine groups of statuary around the building, 

21 



PEESENT DAY PARIS 

representing Lyric poetry, Idyllic poetry, Music, 
Declamation, Song, Drama, and so on, but the finest 
of all is the Dance, by Carpeaux, the last group on 
the further side from us as we approach from the 
Madeleine. This group superbly breathes the spirit 
of the joie de vivre, as the ancient world understood 
it. The Opera building also contains a notable musi- 
cal library. 

If the outside of the Opera is superb, the inside, 
especially the grand staircase, is a masterpiece of 
elegant luxury. The steps are of white marble, and 
the handrail of Algerian onyx. The ceiling frescoes 
represent the gods of Olympus, while in the foyer 
there are fine paintings and mosaics. In the two 
years before the war the famous Carnival balls were 
revived at the Opera, after having lapsed for many 
years. The real spirit of the Carnival was, however, 
it must be confessed, either absent or very much dis- 
tracted by other thoughts on those occasions; the 
rumblings of the coming storm were, I suppose, 
already audible in the distance. Perhaps the fur- 
ther revival which is now promised will bring back 
a little of the old spirit. 

This magnificent building is more than a sim- 
ple opera house, for it is the headquarters of the 
National Academy of Music and Dance, under the 
direct orders of the Undersecretary of Pine Arts, 
for, as the visitor need hardly be reminded, the 
French State encourages these 5^*ts and subsidizes 

22 



INTELLECTUAL PARIS 

tliem in a way that is unknown in Anglo-Saxon 
countries. 

Standing with your back to the Opera, you look 
down tho Avenue do I'Opera, a handsome thorough- 
fare with fine shops, which was built for the Exhi- 
bition of 187S, and to repair the damage that had 
been caused by the Commune. At the other end of 
the street is the Theatre Frangais, the leading classi- 
cal theater in Erance, which is also called the 
"House of Moliere," as it continues the traditions 
of the great dramatist. It was partly destroyed by 
fire in 1900, but was rebuilt on the old plan. It is 
governed by the decree of Moscow instituted by 
Napoleon I (1812). An evening at this theater lis- 
tening to one of Moliere's comedies or a piece by 
some other of the great classical authors is (always 
provided you are fond of the theater) a treat not 
easily forgotten. 

The comer on the right of the Place de I'Opera 
and the boulevard from which we have just issued 
is taken by the Cafe de la Paix, the most celebrated 
cafe even in Paris. Its rent, as may well be imag- 
ined, amounts to quite a fortune. No visit to Paris 
can be considered complete unless one has sat at a 
table on the "terrace" of this cafe for an hour be- 
fore dinner or after and watched the crowd pass to 
and fro. It has been said that if one sits here long 
enough one will see everybody one knows pass; and 
I understand there are people who have proved the 
truth of the saying ! Certainly, though I have never 

23 



PEESENT DAY PAEIS 

gone in for the pastime at all diligently, I have seen 
nearly everybody of note in Paris pass or sit here 
at one time or another (great manufacturers, fash- 
ionable people from all over the world, artists, 
■writers, statesmen, and the people one talks about), 
as well, of course, as a gi-eat number of no note at 
all. Between the Cafe and the Avenue de I'Opera 
is the entrance to Rue de la Paix, the ladies' para- 
dise. Around us are numerous large banking estab- 
[lishments, and the Banque de Prance is close by on 
the left, in one of the streets running off the Ave- 
nue de I'Opera. Indeed we are in the quarter of 
"high finance." The Rue du Quatre Septembre, 
running off on the left, is a thriving business thor- 
oughfare. 

-; Let us continue along the boulevards. Here is 
the Paris of cafes and theaters. For many Pari- 
sians, as I have said above, all the world that mat- 
ters is contained in these few streets. Between these 
boulevards and Montmartre hundreds and thousands 
of Parisians have lived and had their being and 
died, and known little or nothing beyond (for until 
quite recent years Parisians were poor travelers). 
! On the left we come to the Vaudeville Theater, 
where many of the younger Dumas' and other cele- 
brated plays were first produced, and hundreds of 
famous actors and actresses have appeared. On 
the opposite side of the road is the Cafe Napolitaine, 
once a famous resort of authors, dramatists and wits 
(a few of them still patronize it). The Pavilion de 

24 



INTELLECTUAL PARIS 

Ilanovre, now a shop, was built for his own pleasure 
by the Marquis de Saxe. Bits of famous old-time 
Paris have disappeared within recent years in the 
improvements that have been made hereabouts. The 
large new building on the corner of the Rue Mari- 
vaux occupies the site of the Cafe Anglais, which 
until a few years ago was a resort of epicures from 
all over the world. King Edward always frequented 
the place when in Paris. Almost opposite on the 
other side of the road a post-office now occupies the 
site of the equally famous Maison Doree, which was 
in its glory in the time of the Duke of Hamilton 
and his brother "bloods." A gruesome story goes 
that the Duke's body, after his death and according 
to his wish, was seated at a table at the Maison Do- 
ree as a sort of farewell to the scenes of his earthly 
enjoyments! But the heyday of these and other 
resorts was before 1870 ; after that fatal year a gloom 
fell upon Paris and the Parisians, which is not yet 
entirely lifted. 

Hereabouts, too, is newspaper land — that is to 
say, the head offices of numbers of the important 
French newspapers will be found on the boulevards, 
as well as the Paris offices of British and American 
papers whose names are household words in the 
countries from which we Anglo-Saxons come. 

Look up the Rue Laffitte, on your left, at the 
charming vision of the Church of the Sacred Heart 
on top of Montmartre. It looks almost like a fairy 
structure in its dazzling white vesture, and this 

25 



PKESENT DAY PARIS 

aery vision is to be obtained from various parts of 
the city — a quaint but fitting symbol of the faith of 
this Voltairian city, for Paris is full of contradic- 
tions. 

At the corner of the Rue Drouot is the office of 
the Gaulois newspaper, like a watch tower, just as 
if the director, Arthur Meyer (one of the remark- 
able men of the Paris that is passing) and his staff 
watch from their windows and relate what they see 
(which in a way is more or less the case). A little 
way down the Rue Drouot is the office of that other 
newspaper, the Figaro, where a tragedy occurred 
about a year before the war broke out which had 
tremendous repercussions. It was in that office that 
the editor, Gaston Calmette, was shot dead by the 
wife of a former Prime Minister of France, M. Cail- 
laux; and her acquittal by a jury in July, 1914, led 
to the most remarkable scenes that have been wit- 
nessed in Paris for many years — all suddenly stopped 
in an instant by the one terrible word, "War !" In 
the Rue Drouot, also, are the public salesrooms for 
pictures, furniture, jewelry, etc. 

On the other side of the Boulevard, between the 
Rues Marivaux and Favaii;, is the Opera Comique, 
one of the State-endowed theaters. Those who know 
something of French art and literature will note 
with interest the names of the streets. Favart was 
the creator of modern opera comique, and his wife 
Was a celebrated actress. You would never guess 
why the front of the Opera Comique is not on the 

26 



INTELLECTUAL PARIS 

Boulevard. Because the "Comedians of the King" 
in 1782, when the place was hciug built, insisted 
upon this being done, as they refused to be con- 
founded with the ordinary comedians of the Boule- 
vard. The Opera Comique is a new building since 
the terrible fire of 1887. 

Down the Rue Vivienne, on our right, we come 
iu a few steps to the Bourse, or Stock Exchange. 
As regards architecture, it is an imitation of the 
Temple of Vespasian in the Eorum at Rome. (Those 
who remember something of the private life of this 
Emperor may perhaps see some connection between 
him and Mammon!) There is little of interest 
about the Bourse except the strident activities of the 
brokers. 

The Rue Richelieu, which begins here, terminates 
at the Theatre Frangais. In the middle of it is the 
Bibliotheque Rationale, or ISTational Library, in- 
stalled in the ' former home of Cardinal Mazarin. 
The collection of books was begun by Louis XI, and 
numbers of the Monarchs added to it, especially the 
Louis XIV and Louis XV. It was also added to 
in Revolutionary times, when the monasteries were 
suppressed. The Library contains some 3,000,000 
volumes, besides illuminated and other manuscripts 
and engravings. Moliere died at No. 40, Rue de 
Richelieu. The fine monument to him is worth in- 
specting. In the same street (No. 50) lived the 
parents of La Pompadour (named Poisson). 

A few steps further we reach the Boulevard 
27 



PRESENT DAY PAEIS 

Montmaxtre, where again there are numerous cafes 
and restaurants. At the corner of the Rue du Fau- 
bourg Poissonniere is the office of the Matin news- 
paper, the first of the Paris journals to copy Anglo- 
American methods of journalism; indeed, it is an 
K)ffshoot of an Anglo-American newspaper, The Paris 
MofTiing News, which existed some twenty-five to 
thirty years ago. 

The Cardinal is another cafe where history has 
been made. The Theatre des Varietes was the home 
of comic opera and has had a brilliant past. The 
music of Offenbach, produced here for a period of 
twenty years, caused a greater craze than did ever 
the Viennese opera of more recent years. When the 
theater was built about the first decade of last cen- 
tury it was considered to be a most inappropriate 
place, as it was almost in the country, for this and 
the next Boulevard (Bonne Nouvelle) were lined 
with shade trees, making them almost a park. 

Marguery's, on the Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle, was 
another home of epicures, and Marguery's method of 
cooking soles has been imitated all over the world. 
This restaurant is still a favorite of business people, 
but it is no longer so interesting as in the days when 
M. Marguery himself used to come around to every 
guest's table and ask if he were satisfied. Next 
door is the Gymnase Theatre. 

Forming the junction of this boulevard and that 
of St. Louis is the Porte (or Gate) of St. Denis, 
which was erected in 1671, in place of the ancient 

28 



INTELLECTUAL PARIS 

castellated gate, to commemorate Louis XIV's vic- 
tories in Holland and the Lower Rhine. The bas- 
reliefs above the archway represent the passage of 
the Rhine. Beyond this gate the road to St. Denis 
was onco a highway for pilgrims. Boulevard St. 
Denis is intersected a little further on by Boulevar'3 
de Sebastopol, which runs towards the Seine, aid 
by Boulevard de Strasbourg, which goes to the Garo 
de I'Est (Eastern of France Railway station). On 
this latter boulevard is the Antoine Theatre, where 
most of the modern plays of the Theatre Libre type 
have been produced. 

The Porte St. Martin is another triumphal arch, 
erected in 1674 by the city of Paris, in honor of 
Louis XIV. There are three theaters on the boule- 
vard of this name (there used to be more) — the 
Renaissance, Porte St. Martin, and Ambigu, each of 
which usually keeps to its own genre more or less. 
The chief life and movement in this neighborhood 
are in the evenings. When the theaters are empty- 
ing, the streets fill with a gay, agitated throng; the 
cafes fill up, newspapers cry their wares, which no- 
body any more cares much about for that particular 
evening, and ragamuffins hail cabs, for which there 
is always a rather undignified scramble, ladies in 
evening dress being bundled into them with various 
little screams and exclamations, while the night air 
is filled with the mingled aroma of Rue de la Paix 
perfumes and cigarettes. 

We can finish our present walk at the Place de la 
29- 



PRESENT DAY PAEIS 

RepubKqua The statue of the Republic in the cen- 
ter was erected in 1883. The three seated figures 
are Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality; Dalou's bas- 
reliefs in bronze represent prominent events in the 
history of the Republic. There is an English music 
hall (the Alhambra) in the Rue de Malte, off this 
squara 

From the Metropolitan (underground) station in 
the Place de la Republique one can get to most parts 
of the city, but an excellent way of returning to the 
center is by the Madeleine-Bastille omnibus, which 
goes along the boulevards through which we have 
just come. Unfortunately the old "imperiale" or 
top seats, from which one could get such a good view 
of the busy life of the city, have been done .away 
with with the advent of the motor-omnibus. ! 

A word as to French cafes. The first cafe in 
Europe was established in Marseilles, on an Eastern 
model; and these institutions became quickly so 
popular on account of the absence of clubs. Even 
to-day there are very few clubs in Paris, partly be- 
cause the male club, without female society, would 
never appeal to French tastes, and also because such 
clubs as exist are very expensive, clubs being always 
associated in the French mind with gambling, for 
which reason the Government puts a very heavy tax 
on them. , 

Therefore the Frenchman's, and especially the 
Parisian's, cafe is his club, and most keep to their 
favorite houses, for there are fashions in cafes. The 

30 



INTELLECTUAL PAEIS 

usiest and most popular cafes are as a rule on the 
left of the houlevards going from the Opera; these 
are crowded day and night. Those on the other side 
of the thoroughfare are devoted to special coteries. 
The famous Cafe Tortoni, which in the early days 
of the nineteenth century was a resort of rank and 
fashion and pleasure, was on the Boulevard des 
Italiens. Famous for its ices, said to have been the 
finest of their kind ever tasted, it was the rendez- 
vous of all that was gay and — wicked! At brealc- 
fast time it was the gathering-place of duelists and 
retired officers and fire-eaters. Tortoni, the Italian 
founder, amassed a huge fortune, but ended his days 
by committing suicide in the heyday of his popu- 
larity. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE OEIGINS OF PAKIS— THE CITY ISLAND, NOTBE 
DAME, THE SAINTE CHAPELLE 

For this promenade we go back to the dim and 
distant origin of Paris, when long before the Roman 
invasion it was founded on the island city on the 
Seine. The city was begun on this He de la Cite 
more than two thousand years ago by a tribe of 
Gauls called Parisii. The city was called Lutetia 
by the Romans, who built a palace here. Under 
Julian the Apostate, who was fond of the place, the 
name was changed to Paris (or rather Parisea 
Civitas, from which the other name naturally grew). 
The Royal residence was fixed here by Hugh Capet. 
In the fourth century the city was still confined to 
the island and was protected by a fortified wall (the 
remains of which were laid bare in 1829). The He 
de la Cite is shaped like a boat, with its prow down 
stream; whence the heraldic device of Paris is a 
boat. Up to the seventeenth century Paris was 
divided in the popular mind into three parts: the 
town (or Right bank), the University (or Left bank) 
and the Cite. 

The Pont "N^euf, or New Bridge, which is really 
the oldest in the city, is thrown across the bows of 

32 



THE ORIGINS OF PARIS 

the boat island. The bridge was begun in 1587, and 
finished in 1603, when that spectacular King Henri 
IV reigned. It was remodeled in 1852. 

On the tongue of land between the two sections of 
the bridge is the statue of Henri IV himself, King 
of France and Navarre. Originally erected by his 
son Louis XIII, the first statue was destroyed at the 
Revolution. The present statue, placed here at the 
Restoration of the Monarchy by Louis XVIII, was 
cast from the bronze of the figure of Napoleon I 
removed from the Vendome Column in 1814. 

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, those 
years of transition in the annals of Paris and France, 
the Pont Neuf was a gossiping place in vogue with 
gallant squires and courtly dames — as well, to be 
sure, of persons of lesser degree — and the favorite 
market place of ambulant adventurers, merchants, 
mountebanks and "camelots." Like London Bridge 
in olden times, the Pont Neuf was half covered with 
shops of fancy goods dealers, such as you see at the 
fairs to-day. 

The thoroughfare taken by Royal processions 
when the King went to open Parliament, the history 
of this bridge is the history of Paris. A seventeenth 
century saying went that no one could cross the 
bridge without meeting a monk, a white horse, and 
two charming women. 

"The boat city, in the middle of the river," says 
M. Gabriel Hanotaux, in his book. La France en 
16H, "was attached to the right and left banks by 

33 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

double and triple moorings — the bridges, namely, 
Pont Saint-Michel and Petit Pont, on one side; on 
the other, Pont-aux-Marchands, Pont-au-Change, 
Pont Notre-Dame, all of which were over and over 
again destroyed, carried away by sudden rushes of 
water, and over and over again hastily rebuilt. With 
their roadways like an ass's back and covered as 
they were with buildings, they were usually very 
difficult of access." 

A fine view is obtained from the Pont Neuf look- 
ing down stream — the mass of the Louvre, nearly 
half a mile long, on the ISTorth bank, and a little 
nearer to one the two towers of St. Germain I'Auxer- 
rois, the nearer square one being that from which 
the sinister bell rang out to announce the beginning 
of the butchery of St. Bartholomew on August 24, 
1572. The iron foot-bridge nearest down stream is 
the Pont des Arts, leading from the Louvre to the 
Institut de France. There are two other bridges 
beyond — Pont du Carrousel and Pont Royal. 

'Now turn and look up stream. On the right is 
the Palais de Justice with its pointed towers, while 
the gilded vane and spire showing over the inter- 
vening buildings is the Sainte Chapelle. The stone 
bridge is the Pont au Change (Bridge of the Money- 
lenders), leading from the island to the Place du 
Chatelet. Above the roof of the nearer of the two 
theaters which this Place contains can be seen the 
summit of the Tour St. Jacques; beyond the other 
(the Sarah Bernhardt Theatre) rises the cupola of 

34 



TELE ORIGINS OF PAEIS 

tho Hotel de Ville, and beyond that the curved sum- 
mit of the Church of St. Gervais. 

Standms: with your back to Henri IV's statue, 
you can sec in front of you between two blocks of 
seventeenth century houses, tho Place Dauphine. 
Enter this place and you can imagine yourself in 
early seventeenth century Paris. King Henri IV's 
garden once occupied this site. Walk through the 
Rue de Harlay, and the building opposite is the 
Western fagade of the Palais de Justice. Turn left 
on to the Quai de I'Horloge (Clock Tower quay). 
On your left is the Pont Neuf. Turn to the right 
and walk on the parapet side of the quay. The 
building on the right with the pointed towers is the 
famous Conciergerie, part of the Hall of Justice — 
so called because in the fourteenth century it was 
the residence of the Concierge, a high functionary 
of the King's Parliament. In later times it became 
a prison. 

In the Conciergerie the chief victims of the Terror 
passed their last days before being removed for ex- 
ecution. Among them were Queen Marie Antoinette, 
Madame Roland (whose husband killed himself on 
hearing of her execution), Danton, the Revolution- 
ary leader accused by his colleagues of a leaning 
towards moderation; Madame du Barry, Madame 
Rocamier, Robespierre, the extremist (Carlyle's 
"Sea-green Incorruptible"), Malesherbes, the coun- 
sel who defended the King at his trial, and some 
three thousand others. 

35 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

On your left again is tlie Pont au Change, and 
looking across it one has a good view of the Tour 
St. Jacques. The earliest bridge on this site was 
erected in the twelfth century, but the present struc- 
ture is of 1858. 

Leave this bridge and turn down the Boulevard 
du Palais past the Clock Tower (or Tour de I'Hor- 
loge), which was built in 1370 (some authorities say 
1298). Ear from looking its age, the Clock Tower 
has been kept in repair with a consummate art that 
has not changed its style or character. It is prob- 
ably the oldest clock in France. At the opposite 
corner of the street is the Tribunal of Commerce. 
A few yards further on and we come to the great 
iron gates of the Palais de Justice, opening on to the 
Cour de Mai, so-called from the Maypole which was 
planted here annually in olden times by the law 
students. The buffet-restaurant (for the use of 
those engaged in the law courts) occupies the site of 
what in the days of the Terror was the entrance to 
and exit from the Conciergerie prison; in the Cour 
de Mai were stationed the tumbrils that received 
the loads of men and women for deportation to the 
place of execution. 

The steps lead up to the Galerie Marchande, and 
from thence to the Salle des Pas-Perdus and to the 
various courts. Many a famous case has been tried 
in these courts in past times and recent, for it has 
been a court of justice since the beginning of civil- 
ization. 

36 



THE ORIGINS OF PARIS 

Where the Palais de Justice stands to-day waa 
once the residence of the Roman governors of Lu- 
tetia. King Robert the Pious built a great palace 
here in the eleventh century, and it continued to be 
the residence of the French Monarchs down to the 
time of Charles VII (1422). But this King trans- 
ferred his court to the Palais des Tournelles, which 
his father, Charles VI, had constructed near to the 
Bastille (built by Charles V). From time to time 
the Palace has been added to ; it has suffered several 
conflagrations, and the style of architecture has been 
modified by successive designers. But much of it 
remains as it was originally, and especially is this 
the case with regard to that wonderful example of 
Gothic architecture (one of the finest in existence), 
Louis XI's chapel, known as the Sainte Chapelle. 
It was erected in 1245 (about forty years after the 
English lost Normandy and thirty after King John 
had signed the Great Charter) as a domestic chapel 
for his palace, being specially designed to receive the 
Crown of Thorns purchased by Louis from Baldwin, 
Emperor of the East at Constantinople. (The relic 
is now preserved in the sacristy of Notre Dame.) 

Even to-day this jewel breathes the ecstatic piety 
of the mystical Crusader King, who was revered 
almost equally by Christians and Mussulmans. The 
Saint© Chapelle is quaint in that it consists of two 
parts, an upper part for the Royal family and the 
Court and a lower one for the domestics (remember 
that in Louis' time the chapel was approached from 

37 



PKESENT DAY PAKIS 

the corridors of the Palace, which are now only ex- 
ceptionally opened to visitors). There is endless 
detail here to keep the visitor entranced. Note the 
decorations which repeat the Crown of Thorns and 
the Cross, with other religious emblems, mingling 
with the Royal lilies and the castles of Castillo, in 
honor of Blanche of Castille, Louis' mother. The 
tabernacle, now empty, once contained the sacred 
relics as well as the skull of St. Louis. At one time 
all maladies were supposed to be cured through the 
virtues of the holy relics, and on Good Fridays espe- 
cially epileptics and others resorted to the Chapel 
and filled it. Extraordinary scenes are recorded by 
some of the contemporary historians, and finally so 
scandalous had the whole thing become that Louis 
XVI stopped the exhibitions of the relics. The 
treasury of this little church, consisting of images, 
vessels, reliquaries, crosses, etc., was extraordinarily 
rich. 

"The first thing that strikes the visitor," says 
Mrs. Beale, that very notable guide to the churches 
of Paris, "upon entering is the enormous size of the 
windows, which occupy the entire space between the 
buttresses and rise to the base of the roof. All the 
weight of the vaulting rests, therefore, upon the ex- 
terior buttresses, but not the slightest inflection has 
ever taken place. The church is built truly east and 
west, the entrance to each chapel being by separate 
portals. The only modification the exterior of the 
building has sustained since St. Louis' time is the 

38 



THE ORIGINS OF PAEIS 

addition of a littlo oratory attributed to Louis XI, 
and the rebuilding of a part of the fagade in the 
fifteenth century." 

The only communication between the lower and 
upper chapels at the present time is by means of 
the small turret staircase, but formerly the upper 
church was approached by a wide exterior flight of 
forty-four steps. This flight, rebuilt a number of 
times, was finally demolished in the last century. 

"The upper chapel," says Mrs. Beale again, "is 
one of those buildings which one never tires of ad- 
miring. When we wend our way up the turret 
stairs, and enter it from the semidarkness of the 
crypt, it strikes us as the most exquisite scheme of 
color imaginable. Add to the beauty of the chapel 
all the associations which crowd upon the memory 
(it is hardly worth inspecting any old building un- 
less one does this, indeed) — St. Louis' beautiful 
faith and noble life, his enthusiasm for God's work 
and man's welfare; all the ceremonies and the pro- 
cessions which have taken place there, with the 
lights, the flowers and the incense, and our imagina- 
tion forms a picture which no hand could adequately 
paint. The chapel is composed of four bays for the 
nave, and seven smaller for the apse. The vault is 
groined and is supported by clustered columns and 
capitals ornamented with foliage. The windows 
occupy the entire space between the supporting pil- 
lars and are filled with the most beautiful stained 
glass [and the author I am quoting reminds us that 

39 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

there is an old French proverb which speaks of 
"wine of the color of the windows of Sainte 
Chapelle"], while below is an arcade rising from a 
stone seat. The capitals of the columns are most 
exquisitely carved in imitation of the flora of France, 
and the quatrefoils between the arches are filled with 
a kind of decoration which is as rare as it is effective. 
Between the arches of the arcades are Angels with 
outstretched arms, who seem to be crowning the mar- 
tyrs in the quatrefoils. At the third bay of the nave 
on each side are recesses which formed reserved 
places for some privileged persons during mass, and 
it is thought that they were probably occupied by 
the King and Queen, the former on the Gospel, the 
latter on the Epistle side. On the south wall is a 
slanting recess, which must formerly have served as 
a chapel, as there was an altar at the end of it hav- 
ing a painted reredos representing the interior of 
the great chasse, with all its contents ranged in 
proper order and St. Louis praying before it. It is 
supposed that Louis XI may have used this niche as 
a place where he could pray without being seen, but 
in sight of the altar and the relics" — when he went 
in fear of assassination, say others. 

Passing out through the courtyard and into the 
street again, one finds opposite one the central sta- 
tion of the Paris fire brigade and Paris Guard. At 
each gate is a sentinel — one in the garb of the mili- 
tary police and the other (helmeted) in the uniform 
of the firemen (or "pompiers"). 

40 



TIIE ORIGmS OF PAEIS 

Turning to the right past the Pont St. Michel, 
take the Quai du Marcho Neuf until you arrive at 
the great open space Parvis du Notre Dame, in 
front of the great Cathedral. 

Notre Dame was completed ten years before the 
Sainte Chapelle was begun. One is struck at once 
by the contrast between the two styles — the one light, 
fragile-looking (at least from within), the other 
massive, stern and somber. This epic in stone was 
begun in 1163 (the first stone being laid by Pope 
Alexander III in person) and consecrated twenty 
years later. Ages before that, however, a Roman 
temple dedicated to Jupiter had stood on the spot. 
After Christianity had become established in France 
churches became numerous on this small island, and 
two were abolished to make way for ISTotre Dame. 
One of these was dedicated to St. Stephen the Proto- 
martyr, and many souvenirs of the Saint will be 
found in the Cathedral. 

One of the earliest Gothic churches in France, it 
is of its kind one of the most perfect, and it is inter- 
esting to note that years ago the pile looked much 
more imposing even than it does to-day because it 
was reached by a broad flight of steps; in recent 
years the land around it has been raised. 

ITero is a summary list of the chief things to be 
seen in Notre Dame: 

The rose window (western fagade) dedicated to 
the glory of the Virgin, who sits with Crown and 
scepter bearing the Child on her left arm; 

41 



PKESENT DAY PARIS 

The high reliefs in stone, gilt and painting (on the 
wall between choir and ambulatory), executed early 
in the fourteenth century, and representing scenes 
in the life of Christ. The series was continued a 
?i4tle later, and these are better modeled, but not so 
quaint (on south side of choir) ; 

The medieval wonder-working statue of Our Lady 
(near the pillar entrance to choir and ambulatory, 
south transept) ; 

The view outside of the three great iron portals 
of the west front, dedicated respectively to Our 
Lady (northern), the Redeemer (also called Porte 
de Jugement), center, and that of St. Anne, the 
Mother of the Virgin (southern), which was taken 
from the earlier church on the same site. 

ISTotre Dame has suffered greatly at one time or 
another from the hands of turbulent mobs. During 
the Revolution the Cathedral was turned into a 
Temple of Reason, and the statue of the Virgin was 
replaced by one of Liberty, while statues of Voltaire 
and Rousseau replaced the Saints. (Read Carlyle's 
picturesque pages on these incidents.) The orgies 
that took place in the sacred building at that time 
led to its being closed, and it was reopened in 1802 
as a place of worship by Napoleon, who was after- 
wards crowned there with Josephine. It was the 
most magnificent ceremonial in the history of the 
place. Notre Dame was restored in 1845. 

The interior of Notre Dame is imposing, though 
a little heavy and somber in character. Though the 

42 



THE ORIGINS OF PAEIS 

navo and choir were sixty years in construction, 
there is scarcely any difference in style except in 
details. Most of the capitals are adorned with ex- 
amples of the flora of Parisian fields. At the west 
end is a gallery now occupied by the great organ; 
it was formerly the stage on which miracle plays 
were performed. The choir, filled with stained 
glass, is the most beautiful part of the church. Some 
parts of it, the bays which separate the side aisles 
from the crossings, are of the fourteenth century, 
and of tliis period are the beautiful little angels 
blowing trumpets which surmount the archivolt. 

Formerly the pavement was a mass of tombstones, 
hearing portrait in brass or marble, but Louis XIVs 
architects did away with these and substituted a 
marble pavement. The few statues now in the 
churcli are modem. 

The treasury contains holy relics, including the 
famous Crown of Thorns, given to St. Louis by the 
King of Constantinople and carried to Notre Dame 
in 1239 by the King, as well as a piece of the Cross, 
a nail used in the crucifixion, and other ecclesiasti- 
cal objects. 

The ascent to the summit of Notre Dame is an 
arduous undertaking, but from it one obtains the 
finest view of Paris. It is a spectacle not easily for- 
gotten and never to be seen elsewhere, showing as it 
does all the history, the life and the mystery of 
Paris. The wonderful carved gargoyles, demons and 
strange animals, too, so beloved of the Parisians, are 

43 



PEESEXT DAY PARIS 

l)est seen by approacliing them through the tower. 

No sacred building ever had so superb an his- 
torian as Victor Hugo, in his gTeat romance in which 
he tells the history and gives the romantic atmos- 
phere of Notre Dame. During the war a fire was 
started by an incendiary bomb dropped by a Ger- 
man aeroplane, but happily little damage was done. 

On the north side of the Parvis Notre Dame is 
the Hotel Dieu (God's House), one of the chief hos- 
pitals of Paris. The original Hotel Dieu stood in 
the garden where is now the statue of Charlemagne ; 
at that time the hospital and its annex — the old 
building on the opposite side of the river — were 
connected by a high narrow bridge over the river. 
Facing the Cathedral on the western side of the 
Place is the Prefecture of Police. Opposite the 
south side of the church, at the end of the island, is 
the gruesome building known as the Morgue, or 
mortuary, which used to be considered one of the 
sights of Paris, but is now closed to sightseers. 

From anywhere in its neighborhood an interest- 
ing view of Notre Dame can be obtained, but the 
best is from the Quai de I'Archeveche, from which 
the buttresses and the intricate masonry may be 
studied. 

This part of old Paris is crammed with places of 
interest, and those who have time to spare and can 
peer into old courtyards and examine the old houses 
will be amply rewarded by many a fascinating peep 
into the city's bygone days. The "Petit Pont" 

44 



THE ORIGINS OF PAEIS 

("small bridge"), joining the island to the south 
shore, occupies the site of a bridge built by the 
Konians in continuation of their great road from the 
South. There are still hundreds of houses dating 
from centuries past with massive gateways and doors, 
built for defense in the troublous times of yore, and 
through some of the gateways one can obtain 
glimpses of these strange old-fashioned courtyards. 
One of the houses on the Quai aux Fleurs is sup- 
posed to occupy the site of an earlier one once ten- 
anted by the famous lovers Abelard and Heloi'se. 
The Tour Dagobert was in the Rue Chanoinesse, but 
was pulled down in 1909. 

There were formerly between Notre Dame and 
the Hotel Dicu and the Palais de Justice a whole 
honeycomb of narrow, tortuous and malodorous 
streets with strange names, where side by side with 
all descriptions of vice, there worked modest crafts- 
men, especially dyers who sent tinted streams — blue, 
red and green — down to the river; while small 
chapels leaned up against the master structure, dedi- 
cated to Sainte Marine, St. Pierre aux Boeufs, and 
other out-of-the-way members of the Saints' Calen- 
dar. ISTearly all have been swept away. St. Bernard 
is said to have preached in a chapel (that of St. 
Aignan) in the Rue des Hrsins, the remains of which 
were discovered in recent years. 

Crossing the Pont St. Louis from the Quai aux 
Fleurs, one is on the He St. Louis, a sort of pro- 
longation of the larger island, a kind of decayed and 

45 



PRESENT DAY PAEIS 

rather dismal suburb ("a provincial town in the 
midst of Paris," as one writer calls it). The He 
St. Louis only began to be built on in the seven- 
teenth century (Louis XIII) and most of the houses 
of old seigneurial families date from that and the 
succeeding century. Many distinguished people — ■ 
poets, artists, and leaders of fashion — have lived 
here. The Hotel Lauzun (1675, with a curious 
court; Theophile Gautier and Baudelaire both lived 
here) on the Quai d'Anjou, and the fine Hotel Lam- 
bert, in the Rue St. Louis, once a rendezvous of wits 
and infellect, and for a time the home of Voltaire, 
are eminently worth visiting.) The Polish Library, 
founded in 1830, is interesting. 

The island has a quaint old-world air which 
seems far removed from busy twentieth century 
Paris. Pont Sully, a fine double bridge, like Pont 
Neuf, crosses both arms of the Seine. A fine statue 
of the sculptor Barye is hera 

Looking up the river one sees on the right the 
wine port and wine market (Halle aux Vins). The 
Church of St Louis is not of any particular interest, 
and the Pont Marie is not named after any Queen, 
but after the man who built it for Louis XIII. It 
is interesting as being the oldest but one in Paris. 

There are, by the way, thirty-one bridges over 
the Seine in Paris, a fact that excited the mirth of 
Richard Jefferies, si. fascinating writer on his own 
subjects, the English countryside, though he did not 
understand Parid. There is nothing that shows the 

46 



THE ORIGINS OF PARIS 

human and social side of a city like bridges. They 
are the gangways of communal life and those of 
Paris are particularly interesting, as landmarks in 
the history of her people. Without them the Seine 
would be but a busy muddy waterway with but little 
character of its own, except when it becomes turbu- 
lent and overflows its banks, as happens every now 
and then. Every one of the Seine bridges has its 
particular style and marks its epoch. In olden times 
people had a superstitious reverence for bridges, and 
peasants would doff their hats as they crossed them. 
This was in reference to a sort of feeling or belief 
that bridge-makers had in a way circumvented the 
decrees of Nature by establishing a crossing to what 
had never been intended to be crossed. 

Having made the tour of the small island of St. 
Louis, we may cross the Pont Louis Philippe to the 
Quai de I'Hotel de Ville, whence by taking the under- 
ground railway one can get back to one's starting 
place; there are stations in the Place de I'Hotel de 
iVille or, a few minutes further on, at the Place du 
Chatelet (follow the quay with the river to the left). 



CHAPTEK V 

EOYAL PAEIS— THE TUILERIES, RUE DE LA PAIG, 
THE LOUVEE 

Let us start again from the Place de la Concorde, 
But instead of going up the Champs Elysees, as we 
did on a former excursion, take the opposite direc- 
tion and enter the Garden of the Tuileries, which 
extend to the Palace of the Louvre. The principal 
entrance to the Tuileries Palace was in a line with 
the Obelisk and the Arc de Triomphe. It was burned 
down during the Commune in 1871, all that re- 
mains being the two wings that connected it with 
the Louvre. The name Tuileries was derived from 
"tuile," a tile, because the site was once occupied by 
tile-makers' yards. The Palace was begun by Cath- 
erine de Medici (1564) and was the scene of ex- 
traordinary scenes during the Revolution, Louis 
XVI being brought hither by the mob from Ver- 
sailles and installed here with mock honors, while 
he was again attacked there and escaped a few days 
before his arrest and detention in the Temple prison. 
The Palace was surrendered to the mob and sacked. 
Later it was the residence of ^Napoleon and Jose- 
phine, and in 1848, under Louis Philippe, it was 
once more sacked by the mob. The flight of the 

48 



ROYAL PARIS 

Empress Eugenie marked practically the end of it. 

The basin of water near the entrance, with a 
fountain, is a small sea for miniature armadas. 
Hereabouts are many evidences of the Parisians' 
love and care for their children. The Tuilcries is a 
fine playground, and I have already mentioned the 
portion set apart for the youngsters in the Champs 
Elysees. At various times of the day one notices a 
strange haunting aroma of "cookies" in the air. It 
is that of the little cakes known as "gauffres," which 
are being made in the kiosks. Very much like 
sugary sand to the taste, they are greatly beloved of 
the youngsters — as well as by many of their elders — 
and seem to add enormous zest to games. 

In the Tuileries gardens nowadays are held ex- 
hibitions from time to time, like the "Fair of Paris," 
in temporary wooden buildings. 

Architecturally the gardens are still much as they 
were left by Lenotre. Near the entrance are re- 
cumbent statue groups (naturally they are lying in 
their beds!) of river gods, with tributary children. 
On the terrace overlooking the Place de la Concorde 
is the Jeu de Paumc, the once royal game, from 
which the name is derived, being still sometimes 
played here. Picture exhibitions are held in the low 
rambling building, and the terrace of orange trees 
in tubs is interesting because some of the trees are 
said to date from the time of Francis I. 

The gardens contain many interesting and some 
beautiful statues of classical subjects (though some 

49 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

of these are rather dilapidated) and modern celebri- 
ties, as well as fine animal groups by Cain and 
others. Note the statue of Waldeck-Rousseau, a one- 
time Premier. The most interesting of the statues, 
though, is that of the great statesman Leon Gam- 
betta, organizer of the National Defense in 1871; 
the figure on the pedestal of the Alsatian woman 
seizing the gun of a dying soldier is typical of the 
Eranco-Prussian War. In another part of the gar- 
den is a magnificent figure of a boar. One day a 
shell fell just behind this animal, barely escaping it 
and burying itself with a great noise in the ground 
behind; and the curious who crowded round to see 
what had occurred could not help noting the look of 
contempt on the face of the boar ! 

The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, in a straight 
line with the larger distant Arc de Triomphe, was 
formerly the principal entrance to the Tuileries. It 
commemorated Napoleon's victories of 1805-09, and 
an examination of its details shows it to be a very 
beautiful monument. The name "Carrousel" given 
to this place originated from a kind of ball on horse- 
back which was given by Louis XIV. 

On the north side of the Tuileries is the Rue de 
Rivoli, a handsome thoroughfare, though it is less 
favored by Parisians themselves than the boule- 
vards, and is somehow recognized as the foreigners' 
street, being largely given over to shops that spe- 
cially appeal to the tourist — postcards and photo- 
graphs and the inexpensive nicknacks known as 

50 



EOYAL PARIS 

"articles do Paris" (which, by the way, were for some 
roars beforo tho war mostly made by Germans). 
Begun in 1802, the Rue de Rivoli was not com- 
pleted until sixty years later; the arcades here and 
in two or three neighboring streets were tho choice 
of Napoleon, perhaps in memory of his native Cor- 
sica — where, however, the sun can be more ardent 
than it usually is in Paris. 

Before going to the Louvre, turn up the Rue 
Castigliono (at the corner of the Hotel Continental). 
A short distance up this thoroughfare, after cross- 
ing the Rue St Honore, is the Place and Column 
Vendoma They are so called from Caesar de Ven- 
dome, son of Henri IV and Gabrielle d'Estree, who 
had a house here. The Place has had several names 
in the course of the centuries (you will notice that 
the Parisians have a habit of changing the names of 
their thoroughfares according to their political hu- 
mors; they have not got over it yet). The Column 
Vendome, erected by Napoleon to commemorate his 
victories in 1805, is an imitation of Trajan's column 
in Rome (it is one hundred and forty-two feet high). 
The bronze surface of the column is cast from cap- 
tured cannon and represents scenes of Napoleon's 
campaigns. Many of the figures are portraits. The 
statue of the Emperor on top is the third that has 
stood there. Napoleon III pulled down tho one put 
up by Louis Philippe and substituted tho present 
one. During the Commune tho mob pulled down 

51 



PRESENT DAY PAEIS 

the column, but it was replaced in 1874. An inner 
staircase leads to the top. 

The solid handsome houses in the Place Vendome, 
besides one of the Ministries, which has a charming 
old world garden behind it, and the Hotel Ritz, are 
devoted very largely to picture dealers and anti- 
quarians' establishments. The Hotel Bristol, once 
a stopping place for Royalty, exists no more. 

We are now in the Rue de la Paix — the street of 
the dressmakers and fashionable jewelers. It is 
crammed nearly every afternoon with the carriages 
or motor cars of the wealthy, whose ladies are con- 
sulting their "couturiers." Even Paris is changing, 
however, and some of the fashionable dressmakers 
have in recent years pitched their tents further afield, 
even as far as the Champs Elysees, so that the Rue 
de la Paix no longer has a monopoly in this par- 
ticular variety of vanity. 

The "grand couturier" of Paris is an artist — "an 
artist in matching colors, in combining to obtain 
effects, as one may see sometimes when he is en- 
gaged in the interesting task of molding stuffs on 
the human form. The grand couturier, when plan- 
ning new schemes, will contemplate the effect pro- 
duced by combinations of silk and satin swathed 
round a mannequin ; and this method of molding the 
material round the body is a practice pursued by 
some dressmakers with their clients. Everything is 
held together by pins until the desired effect is ob- 
tained; and the process of essayage is a long and 

52 



EOYAL PARIS 

tedious one — one of those trials wliicli no man would 
go tliroiigh, but whicli a woman supports with mar- 
tyr-like patience in the interest of fashion" ("The 
Spirit of Paris"). 

The Rue de la Paix is "certainly one of the most 
fascinating streets in the world, and the lounger who 
dawdled a day in it would witness a pretty fair epit- 
ome of a large side of Paris life. . . . The street hag 
an air of aristocratic elegance; it has been tended by 
dainty feminine fingers, for the balconies of the 
famous dressmakers are resplendent with flowers all 
the year round. They are the guardians of the 
fragile and costly articles for feminine adornment 
which are stored behind those windows. . . . The 
windows contain furs of costly workmanship, laces, 
embroideries, jewels and hats having the latest note 
of Parisian elegance. There is never any crowding 
or vulgar display. The simplicity with which very 
often only one or two objects are shown cunningly 
serves to indicate how precious and luxurious they 
are." 

You will probably meet with some of the nimble- 
fingered and cheery-natured workgirls, known as the 
"Midinettes," or "Mimi-Pinsons." Alfred de Mus- 
set wrote the story of the Paris workgirl of his time, 
and her name was Mimi Pinson. She was gay, 
thoughtless and careless of the morrow, and would 
have ice creams one day, though there might be no 
prospect of bread the next, and she was the friend of 
the equally happy-go-lucky student. But her heart 

53 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

was of gold and everybody liked her. The Mimi 
Pinsons are in some respects different to-day; they 
have a trade union, and if things don't satisfy them 
they go on strike. Their strike for better conditions 
some two or three years ago resulted in legislation 
giving them a half holiday a week — and richly they 
deserved it. It was so difBcult for them to go to 
theaters and enjoy any of the higher pleasures of 
life, which those who wear the clothes they make 
can enjoy, that Gustavo Charpentier, the great musi- 
cian, who wrote the opera of the workgirl, created 
an Academy of Music and Dance, especially for 
them, known as "FAcademie de Mimi Pinson," 
where they have sliown their skill in the arts. Dur- 
ing the war many of them nobly served their suffer- 
ing fellow countrymen as hospital nurses and in 
other ways. 

A peculiarity of post-war Paris dear to the fem- 
inine heart is the tea-shops which have cropped up 
all over the city. Establishments for afternoon tea, 
mostly with English or American names, existed 
before the war, but they have increased a hundred- 
fold of recent years, and to be fashionable one must 
appear at one or the other of these three or four 
times a week, drink tea and eat cakes, and become 
familiar with the latest gossip and scandal over an 
aromatic cigarette (preferably of the American 
variety). At some of these "thes" there is dancing, 
and at all one can see the latest styles of dress and 
the acme of elegance and fashion. 

54 



ROYAL PARIS 

!N"ow let us return to the Rue St. Honore, and 
follow it on tho left until we come to the Church of 
St. Roch, tho plague saint, erected in the latter part 
of the seventeenth century. There are paintings 
and sculpture here worthy of notice, but the church 
is interesting mostly because Napoleon won his first 
distinction here (Louis XIV and Napoleon haunt 
us in Paris, you see). The steps were occupied by 
the insurgents who had risen against the National 
Assembly then sitting at the Tuileries. He dis- 
persed the mob and cleared the steps, and the col- 
umns still bear marks of tho bullets. 

Now, continuing either along the Rue St. Honore 
(where at No. 92 Moliere was bom), or the Rue de 
Rivoli, we shall come in a few minutes to the Place 
du Theatre Frangais, at the end of the Avenue de 
rOpera (the Opera being at the other end). The 
statue in front is of Alfred de Musset, with his 
Musa 

Let us turn down the Rue des Pyramides and 
look at the bronze equestrian statue of Joan of Arc 
by Fremiet. The cult of the Maid of Orleans, 
which had already become considerable during the 
last two or three years before the war, has increased 
greatly of late years. This statue and the one of 
the Maid in front of the St. Augustine Church nearly 
always bear flowers and wreaths. Joan of Arc and 
St. Genevieve, the patron Saint, are believed by 
many to have exercised a special protection over 
Paris during the war. 

55 



PEESENT DAY PAEIS 

Between the theater and the Louvre is the Palais 
Royal, which is a State building not opened to 
the public. It was built by Cardinal Richelieu and 
was then called the Palais du Cardinal; later it was 
occupied by Anne of Austria and other royal per- 
sonages. St. Simon describes the orgies that took 
place here in the days of the Regent. The visitor 
can go into the gardens behind the Palace through 
quiet passages. They are surrounded by arcades 
containing shops, mostly rather dismal book shops, 
cafes, and an old-world atmosphere. It was in these 
gardens that Camille Desmoulins on July 12, 1789, 
summoned the populace to arms and started the Revo- 
lution (see Carlyle again for these incidents), and a 
statue of the leader records the fact. 

Return to Rue de Rivoli ; at No. 107 is the Mu- 
seum of Decorative Art (Pavilion de Marsan), the 
South Kensington Museum of Paris. It contains 
beautiful tapestries, Sevres vases, sculpture, painf- 
ings, souvenirs. Oriental collections, etc., and tempo- 
rary exhibitions are often arranged here. 

We are now at the Louvre, the noblest monument 
of the French Renaissance and the most magnificent 
museum and art gallery in Europe, containing as it 
does an unrivaled collection of paintings and sculp- 
ture (a use to which it was turned after the Revolu- 
tion). The site of a hunting lodge, dating from the 
thirteenth century, the foundations of the present 
building were laid in 1541 by Francis I. The south 
wing was continued under Catherine de Medici 

56 



ROYAL PARTS 

and other monarchs. Louis XIV finished the east- 
ern half. The portion facing the Church of St. 
Germain TAuxerrois is called the old Louvre; the 
new Louvre consists chiefly of the galleries that con- 
nected it with the Tuileries (completed under ITa- 
poleon III). The portion of the new Louvre facing 
the Palais Royal is occupied by the Ministry of Fi- 
nance. 

All authorities agree that the Louvre gallery as 
regards its art exhibits contains three sublime treas- 
ures, in the possession of which alone it would tran- 
scend all other museums of art. They are the 
*'Gioconda," or "Mona Lisa," of Leonardo da Vinci ; 
the "Venus of Milo," and the "Winged Victory" of 
Samothrace. The "Gioconda" was bought from the 
artist, who died at Amboise and is buried there, by 
Francis I, and, the most valuable picture in the Cab- 
inet of this Monarch, was first hung there in 1545, 
so that it may be said to form the nucleus of the 
Louvre collection. Mona Lisa was the wife of the 
artist's friend, Francesco del Giocondo, and Leonardo 
is said to have worked at it for four years without 
finishing it to his satisfaction. Yet it is a supreme 
masterpiece of his and all other art of the kind. 
Many great writers have bestowed infinite praise on 
it (Vasari in Italy, Walter Pater in our own time). 
It is, Vasari said, "more divine than human, living 
like nature ; . . . it is not painting, but the despair 
of painters." Michelet wrote, "This painting draws 

57 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

me, absorbs me, thrills me ; I go to it in spite of my- 
self, as the bird does to the serpent." 
— The extraordinary theft of the '^Gioeonda" some 
years ago, and the picture's equally mysterious re- 
turn, will be well remembered. 

The "Venus" and the "Victory" were added to the 
collection last century. The "Venus" was found in 
1820 in the island of Melos, in the Greek archipelago, 
and is by an unknown sculptor. Representing, as 
is supposed, the Greek goddess of Love, this noble 
work is all the more remarkable, as it is not mentioned 
in any ancient history of art and seems to have been 
only one among many greater and lesser works of 
Greek plastic art. "In type it belongs," says Grant 
'Allen, "to a school which forms a transition between 
the perfect early grace and purity of Phidias, with 
his pupils, and the later, more self-conscious and de- 
liberate style of Praxiteles and his contemporaries." 
The third glory of the Louvre— the "Nike," or "Vic- 
tory," of Samothrace, known all over the world by 
reproductions, is a much-mutilated figure of Victory, 
standing like a figure-head on the prow of a trireme 
— a splendid example of Greek art (dating from 305 
B.C.) and a magnificent symbol of triumphant bear- 
ing. 

The Louvre contains, perhaps, the most complete 
collection in existence of Italian, Flemish, Spanish 
and modern Prench art, Greek, Roman, Egyptian 
and Assyrian antiquities, sculpture, and ancient and 
medieval jewelry. On the ground floor are the sculp- 

58 



ROYAL PARIS 

tures and engravings; on the first floor pictures, 
drawings and varied oh jets d'art, including furniture ; 
while the Marine, Chinese and other museums are 
on the second floor. The Galleries are heing contin- 
ually added to and changed, so that it is sometimes 
difficult to find the particular objects one wishes to 
inspect. In recent years great numbers of additions 
have been made, either bequests or gifts from pri- 
vate collectors, or transfers from Ministries and 
other public buildings, while the society of the "Amis 
du Louvre" do a good deal in the way of acquiring 
privately, or by influencing public grants, to enrich 
the collection. 

It is impossible in these few pages to give any 
account of the treasures of the Louvre, but even 
those in a hurry should not omit visiting, among 
other rooms, the Salle du Mohilier, with its magnifi- 
cent Gobelin tapestry, carpets and furniture ; the fur- 
niture, tapestries (Gobelins and Beauvais), busts and 
other ohjets d'art in the Louis XIV and Louis XV 
rooms; the ancient sculpture in the wing known as 
the Pavilion MolUen (each room is known as a rule 
by the name of the chief object exhibited in it), nor 
the modern French sculpture (though this is less in- 
teresting) in the rooms devoted to these exhibits. A 
succession of rooms on the first floor devoted to vari- 
ous schools leads to the Salle Carre (or square room), 
which is filled with supreme masterpieces by Mu- 
rillo, Titian, Rembrandt, Guido, Correggio, Raphael, 
Veronese, Van Dyck, Holbein and the "Mona Lisa." 

59 



PEESENT DAY PARIS 

The Grande Galerie, again, runs the entire length of 
the side overlooking the Seine and constitutes in it- 
self a long succession of great paintings from vari- 
ous schools — a history of art indeed. The collec- 
tions of Rubens and Van Dycks are astonishing, and 
though the Louvre is not very rich in British paint- 
ings, those that are here are very choice. One needs 
days and weeks to inspect with anything like thor- 
oughness the treasures of the Louvre, and then, one 
ought to return and study the ceilings, — which is tir- 
ing, but well worth while. 

The Church of St. Germain I'Auxerrois was at 
one time the Louvre Chapel. Founded in the sixth 
century, the present building dates from the twelfth, 
but it was added to later. There are several chapels 
with fine monuments and some frescoes on the walls 
worth inspecting. I have already referred to the 
sinister connection of the church with the St. Bar- 
tholomew massacre. 



CHAPTER VI 

PABIS OF THE EXHIBITIONS AND LITERARY PARIS 

—THE TROCADERO PALACE, NAPOLEON'S TOMB, 

THE EIFFEL TOWER, THE ACADEMIES 

Stabt from the Palais du Trocadero, which is 
easily reached by the Metropolitain (underground) 
railway, or by tramway from the Madeleine (No. 
16). This tramway ride affords a good view of the 
Boulevard Haussmann, Avenue Friedland, the 
Etoile quarter and the Avenue Kleber. The Troca- 
dero Palace (democratic Paris likes to give this 
name of Palace, once reserved for Kings, to their 
great buildings, and they have indeed many "peo- 
ple's palaces") was built in Oriental style for the 
1878 exhibition. Standing on elevated ground over- 
looking the Seine, it is crescent-shaped, with its two 
tips pointing towards the Seine. The main building 
is flanked by two minarets and two curved wings. A 
fine view can bo obtained even from the terrace over- 
looking the ornamental garden with its cascade and 
basin, and the Seine. The Trocadero itself is now 
a Museum of Ethnography (with a fine collection of 
French peasants' costumes), while it contains a con- 
cert hall capable of holding six thousand people. 

Behind the Palace is the Place du Trocadero, from 
61 



PRESENT DAY PAEIS 

whicli several fine avenues start — Avenue Henri Mar- 
tin, a handsome residential thoroughfare leading to 
the Bois de Boulogne; Avenue Kleber, at the top of 
which the Arc de Triomphe can be perceived; Ave- 
nue Malakoff, leading to the Place Victor Hugo, 
with a fine statue of the poet, etc. In the Passy 
cemetery, on an elevated position to the left, there is 
one tombstone at least worthy of a visit — that of 
the remarkable girl, Marie Bashkirtseff, the young 
Russian painter. Few people nowadays probably 
remember the sensation caused by the publication of 
her extraordinary "Journal" shortly before the last 
century died, and soon after her own premature 
death. A few steps further to the left will bring one 
to the statue of Benjamin Franklin, who lived in 
the suburb of Passy, which begins here. 

If we pass down the Avenue du Trocadero (re- 
cently renamed the Avenue du President Wilson), 
we shortly come, at the corner of the Rue Boissiere, 
to the Guimet Museum — a collection of antiquities, 
pottery, and objects of the religions of India and 
Eastern Asia, China and Japan. At a short dis- 
tance from it, on the right (entrance a few steps 
down Rue Pierre Charron, rebaptized Rue Pierre de 
Sertre) is another museum — the Galliera, a fine 
building in Renaissance style, which was presented 
to the city of Paris by the Marquise de Galliera. It 
is chiefly devoted to exhibitions of industrial and 
decorative art, and possesses in addition fine tapes- 
tries, sculptures and pictures, which are being gradu- 

62 



LITERARY PARIS 

ally added to. A collection of drawings and studies 
by Puvis do Chavannes has been presented by the 
artist's family. 

In the Place d'lena, between the two museums, is 
a famous statue of Washington. You will have seen 
the statue of Lafayette in an enclosed space in the 
Tuileries gardens, near the Louvre. 

From the Avenue du Trocadero, if we retrace our 
steps a short way, we can cross the river by the Pont 
d'lena, which takes us to the Champs do Mars, from 
which point there is a fine view of the Palace we have 
just quitted. 

The Champs de Mars is again historic ground. 
Louis XVI swore fidelity to the new Constitution 
here before the Autel de la Patrie (Altar of the 
Motherland) at the great Federation fete on July 14, 
1790, and the ceremony was witnessed by hundreds 
of thousands of people seated on a raised embank- 
ment made for the purpose. Talleyrand, Bishop of 
Autun, with four hundred clergy, presided over the 
religious ceremony. !Napoleon celebrated a similar 
fete here a fortnight before Waterloo, and other 
festivities were held by Louis Philippe and l^apoleon 
III. The Champs de Mars was a portion of the site 
of the various Universal Exhibitions. 

There is a French proverb that says it is only the 
provisional, or temporary, that lasts, and one is 
rather reminded of this when one notes the numbers 
of buildings that have remained in Paris as inheri- 
tances from the various exhibitions. They fill up to 

63 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

some extent the gaps caused by the destruction of 
revolutions. Most people are puzzled when they 
first come to Paris to decide to their own satisfaction 
whether or not they like the Eiffel Tower, which 
was built by M. Gustave Eiffel for the Exhibition of 
1889, 980 feet high, its base contained between the 
four supports covers an area of nearly four acres. 
The Tower is entirely constructed of iron. It is now 
the property of the city of Paris, the proprietary 
rights of the constructing company having lapsed. 
During the war it was used for defensive purposes, 
and its wireless installation is one of the finest in 
the world. In peace times visitors can go to the 
first, second or third platforms (from which, of 
course, very extended views can be obtained) either 
by the lifts or the steps. Most people prefer the for- 
mer, as there are 1792 of the latter! 

The Ecole Militaire, at the rear of the Champs de 
Mars, which covers twenty-six acres, is now the Su- 
perior War School. It was founded in 1751 by 
Louis XV for the military education of gentlemen's 
sons. 

Turning down the Avenue de Tourville, we come 
in a few minutes to the Hotel des Invalides (we saw 
the other side of it and the Esplanade des Invalides 
from the Alexandre III bridge). The Hotel des 
Invalides is the Chelsea Hospital of Paris. Founded 
by Louis XIV in 1670, it was intended to lodge 
seven thousand infirm war veterans, but for many 
years there was never anything like that number in 

64 



LITERAEY PAEIS 

the place. Matters have changed since the war, and 
during the war the Invalides, as the headquarters of 
the Military Governor of the capital, was a very 
busy place, with a whole network of offices and de- 
partments in the neighborhood. 

The Church of the Invalides is divided into two 
parts — the Churcli of St. Louis and the Chapel un- 
der the Dome. In the latter is Napoleon's tomb, 
constructed by Visconti immediately under the cu- 
pola. It is an open circular crypt, thirty-six feet in 
diameter and twenty feet deep, with a granite sar- 
cophagus hewn out of a single block, weighing about 
sixty-eight tons, which was brought from Finland 
for the purpose at a cost of 140,000 francs. The 
great Emperor's remains were brought to France in 
1840 by the Prince de Joinville, in obedience to his 
own wish expressed in his last will {"Je desire que 
mes cendres reposent sur les hords de la Seine, aiC 
milieu de ce peuple frangais que j'ai tant aime/' is 
the inscription at the entrance to the crypt). Nu- 
merous writers of note (among them Victor Hugo, 
somewhat scornfully, for what he considered the 
shabby manner in which the Government had ar- 
ranged the affair ; and Thackeray, rather flippantly) 
have described the home-coming and how the re- 
mains were carried in state through Paris and de- 
posited in one of the chapels for twenty years until 
the tomb was constructed. 

The tombs of Jerome and Joseph Bonaparte are 
in the chapel, as well as monuments of other great 

G5 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

generals. On either side of the entrance is a sar- 
cophagus, one to Duroc and the other to Bertrand, 
the Emperor's two faithful friends. Duroc was 
killed in 1813 at the Battle of Bautzen, while 
Bertrand shared the Emperor's exile and followed 
his remains when they were brought back to France. 
Note the symbolical statuary, wreaths, etc., and the 
trophies of flags captured by Napoleon. 

The Church of St. Louis, at the back of the tomb, 
is entered from the Cour d'Honneur. This Cour is 
surrounded by arcades, the walls of which are deco- 
rated with paintings illustrating the history of 
France. 

The Artillery Museum has a large collection of 
weapons of all kinds, which has been added to dur- 
ing the present war. The Army Museum contains 
interesting relics, mostly Napoleonic, and a collec- 
tion of old armor. There is also an ethnological col- 
lection. Altogether the Invalides, which covers some 
thirty acres, is a vast monument to the military 
glory of France, Napoleon being the center and 
summit of all, and the visitor must remember that 
far from forgetting the great Corsican, the study of 
Napoleon and the Napoleonic epoch in France is as 
ardent as ever it was. 

A stone's throw from this tomb of a mighty war- 
rior is a beautiful statue to a great man of peace, 
who really did love his fellow men and devoted his 
life to their welfare. From the Place Vauban turn 
down the Avenue de Breteuil and into the Place de 

66 



LITERARY PARIS 

Breteuil, where there is a monument to Louis Pasteur, 
by Falguiere, one of France's greatest sculptors 
erected in 1904. Pasteur is seated, and a mother 
brings him her daughter to cure. Do not miss this 
statue, with its interesting details, erected to one of 
the benefactors of the human race. The Boulevard 
Pasteur, a little farther on, leads to the Institut Pas- 
teur, in the Rue Dutot. By taking the Rue de 
Sevres, we come again to the Boulevard des Inva- 
lides, and on the right is the Blind Asylum, founded 
by Valentin Hauy, the oldest of its kind. Soldiers 
blinded in the war work there — there is a club for 
the blind and a very large library. Wonderful things 
are being done for the blind in France to-day. 

One can return to the Place and Pont de la Con- 
corde on the underground railway or by tramway 
from the Champs de Mars, or one can walk back 
through the Rue Constantin to the Quai d'Orsay. 
The big building on the right as one reaches the 
Quai is the Foreign Office (usually referred to in 
political circles as the "Quai d'Orsay"). This big 
building, or series of buildings, was erected in 1845 
on the site of the gardens of the Palais Bourbon (or 
Frencli House of Parliament). It was here that the 
long continued sittings of the Peace Conference were 
held, so that the Quai d'Orsay may be said to be the 
birthplace of the League of ITations. 

A few steps further and one comes to the Cham- 
ber of Deputies (see Chapter II). The bridge and 
Place de la Concorde are on our left, and stretching 

67 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

in front are the quays (on the left) and the Boule- 
vard St. Germain (Chapter IX). 

The Quai d'Orsaj continues for some little dis- 
tance, and then becomes the Quai Voltaire and the 
Quai Malaquais. On the Quai Voltaire lived, among 
other great men at various times, Alfred de Musset, 
Ingres, and Voltaire. The great Skeptic died in a 
room which is still preserved. Near to the Solferino 
Bridge is the Palace de Legion d'honneur, and a 
little further the fine station of the Orleans Railway, 
built on the site of the Cour des Comptes (destroyed 
during the Commune). The Ecole des Beaux-Arts 
is on the Quai Malaquais. It was founded in 1860 
for instruction in painting, sculpture and architec- 
ture, and a branch of it is the famous Villa Medici, 
the French art school at Rome, to which winners of 
first prizes are sent for a four years' course of 
instruction at the expense of the Government. 

Some yards further, on Quai Conti, facing the 
Louvre, on the other side of the river, is the Institut 
de France (note that the two buildings are appro* 
priately joined by the Bridge of the Arts). The In- 
stitut, whose big dome is visible from a long way 
round, stands on the spot once occupied by the his- 
toric Tour de Nesle. The Institut forms the literary 
and scientific center of Paris. Founded by Cardinal 
Mazarin, and originally intended for the education 
of young men, it is now the seat o? the five learned 
Academies, which meet within its walls. These are 
the French Academy of Letters, whose members are 

68 



LITERARY PARIS 

called tho ''Forty Immortals" because they are sup- 
posed to have reached such a stage of celebrity ; the 
Academies of Historical and Archaeological Research 
{Inscriptions et Belles Lettres) ; des Sciences; des 
Beaux-Arts (the fine arts) and the Academy des 
Sciences Morales et Politiques — curious names, some 
may think, but which, nevertheless, cover nearly the 
■whole range of intellectual activity. 

The most important of the Academies is that of 
Letters. The reception of a new Immortal is an 
important social and fashionable event, when, as the 
space available is very limited, and seats are not 
reserved, there is great demand for accommodation. 
If one is lucky enough to get a ticket, and after that 
to get in, one will see assembled all the most impor- 
tant people in Paris, from the President downward 
(President Deschanel is an Academician, as was his 
predecessor, M. Poincare) and their wives and 
women friends in exquisite toilettes. 

It is true that election to the Academy does not 
mean deathless fame, and many who have occupied 
these coveted seats are now properly forgotten (it 
may be that some of those now sitting there will share 
the same fate), but the distinction is naturally a 
much envied one. Tho new member on his reception 
delivers a speech before his brother Academicians 
who have elected him (an election which has to be 
ratified by the President of tho Republic), and this 
speech takes the form of an eulogium of his prede- 
cessor in the particular seat Thus continuity is 

69 



PEESEN^T DAY PAEIS 

given to the institution. The latest Academicians to 
be received soon after the war were the Marshals 
Joffre and Foch, thongh these great soldiers have 
no literary pretensions, in the election of whom the 
Academy followed an old precedent. A quaint story 
is told indeed of Marshal Saxe, who was, on his re- 
turn from his victorious campaigns, invited to be- 
come a member, and refused on the excuse that he 
did not know how to spell (which was quite true) 
and therefore would be out of place in such an as- 
sembly. 

The Academicians have an official uniform for 
State occasions of green with gold braid and a (use- 
less and unnecessary) sword. Although they are of- 
ten the object of banter from people who cannot 
aspire to the Academicians (but then, who is not a 
butt for irony in Paris?), yet the result is that the 
profession of letters, whether in the more august 
form of history, theology, or moral philosophy, or the 
more popular form of romance, poetry, or the drama, 
is given a standing and a dignity in France which it 
mostly lacks in other countries. Still, it is neverthe- 
less a fact that some of France's greatest writers 
were never members of the Academy. The Academy 
also gives prizes to young literary talent, the funds 
having mostly come from private bequests for this 
purpose. They even give a yearly prize for the exer- 
cise of domestic virtues. 

The Academy is also the mistress of the FrencK 
language and diction, and the members have been for 

70 



LITERAKY PARIS 

many years engaged on the compilation of a great 
dictionary of the French language. In past times it 
was also tHe mentor of good manners and elegance. 
The French like academies, and many of the French 
provincial towns have had their own academies, some 
of which wielded considerable influence — such Acad- 
emies as Lyons, Caen, Amiens, Arras, Dijon, iSTancy, 
Metz, Rouen, Toulouse, Chalons, Montpellier, Mar- 
seilles, Besangon, Aries and Soissons. 

Just behind the Institut is the Mint (Hotel de la 
Monnaie), which contains an important collection of 
coins, open to the public. 

A picturesque feature of this part of Paris is 
the old book stores on either side of the Seine here- 
abouts, where scholars, bookworms and others linger 
in the hope of picking up knowledge or bibliographi- 
cal treasures. The stalls have been here more or less 
since the middle of the seventeenth century, when 
they were turned off the Pont ^euf. Treasures 
bibliographic become rarer and rarer, because the 
dealers themselves are too keen on letting nothing 
pass their hands that may be a bargain ; but still with 
care and time these may be sometimes picked up, and 
in any case one can often find plenty of interesting 
books. Mr. Gladstone and other distinguished Eng- 
lishmen used to be very fond of whiling away hours 
at these bookstalls. 



CHAPTER VII 

PARIS OP THE MIDDLE AGES— THE MAEAIS, THE 
BASTILLE 

Let us start from the Place du Chatelet, which, 
as the reader has already found out, is easily reached 
by the underground railway. In the center of the 
Place is the fountain of Victory, with its four 
sphinxes, celebrating victories of Napoleon. There 
is little in this busy square, with the popular thea- 
ters on either side (one of them the Theatre SaraH 
Bernhardt) to remind one of its grim history, for on 
this spot once stood the notorious prison of the Grand 
Chatelet (which was removed in 1802). Ages be- 
fore — in the ninth century — a wooden tower existed 
here to defend the bridge against the Normans. It 
was rebuilt in stone on a larger scale in the twelfth 
century, and this fortress was called the Grand 
Chatelet. 

We must turn down the broad Avenue Victoria, 
past the Sarah Bernhardt Theater, and halt at the 
garden on the left, in order to get a look at the 
Tour St Jacques. This beautiful tower in flamboy- 
ant Gothic is all that remains of a church destroyed 
in the Revolution. As Mr. Hilaire Belloc says, "The 
carvings jostle one another . . . and there finally 

72 



PARIS OF THE MIDDLE AGES 

appears that effect of a fire burning which has given 
to the last style of medieval architecture in France 
its French name and has inspired the phrase of 
Michelet with its violent metaphor: 'The Gothic 
caught fire, leaped up in the tongues of the Flam- 
boyant, and disappeared.' " From the summit of 
this tower, Pascal, the great mathematician, made his 
early barometrical observations in the seventeenth 
century, and a statue of him is under the arch. The 
tower is now the home of the "Clerk of the Weather" 
— in other words, the Paris Meteorological Observa- 
tory. 

Let us turn from ancient French art for a moment 
and note the modem in the form of the graceful stat- 
ues in the garden around the Tower. Some of them 
are simple enough subjects, and a charming one is 
nothing more heroic than a girl carrying one of those 
loaves of bread in the form of a big ring which are 
sold in some parts of the country, but it is very ar- 
tistic and graceful. 

At the end of the Avenue Victoria we come to the 
Place de I'Hotel de Ville, with the monumental Town 
Hall. The Hotel de Ville, which is the headquar- 
ters of the Paris municipality, was burned down by 
the mob during the Commune and was rebuilt in 
1882. It is a splendid copy of French Renaissance. 
The first Hotel de Ville was bought for the purpose 
ol a town hall in 1357 by Etienne Marcel, who was 
Provost of the Merchants, a dignity somewhat simi- 
lar to the Mayor of our days, so that he was really 

73 



PKESENT DAY PAEIS 

the founder of Paris municipal government. Fran- 
cis I laid the foundations of another Hotel de Ville 
in 1533. There are noteworthy and beautiful things 
to be seen in the Hotel de Ville, but they are mostly 
modem. On the south side of the building is a 
statue of Etienne Marcel, who fought hard for popu- 
lar goverimaent and was assassinated in 1358. 

The history of the Place de I'Hotel de Ville, which 
used to be called Place de Greve, is practically the 
history of Paris. Executions took place here for 
five hundred years — until 1832. Many and many a 
traitor's and sorceress's head has fallen here, as well 
as those of criminals of better substantiated charac- 
ter. Ravaillac, the assassin of Henri IV (1610), the 
Marquise de Brinvilliers, the notorious poisoner 
(1676), and Cartouche, the highwayman (1721), 
were among the most picturesque criminals executed 
here. In recent years the Place has mostly been the 
scene of popular rejoicings, and it is particularly 
lively on the occasions of the Fourteenth of July balls 
for the people. Rulers and other distinguished visi- 
tors to Paris, as well as Frenchmen who have singu- 
larly distinguished themselves, are often received 
with pomp and ceremonial at the Hotel de Ville by 
the Municipal Council, with their president at their 
head. 

Behind the Hotel de Ville, with a barracks sepa- 
rating them, stands the interesting and remarkable 
Church of St. Gervais and St. Protais. They are, it 
is said, the names of two twin brothers, who are sup- 

74 



PARIS OF THE MIDDLE AGES 

posed to have suffered martyrdom in the time of 
]S[ero. Rather legendary persons, they nevertheless 
became quite popular in the early middle ages, were 
made the patrons of various churches, and their story 
Avas used as a subject by numerous distinguished 
painters. There was a church on the same spot as 
early as the sixth century, but the present edifice 
was begun in 1212 and was remodeled in the six- 
teenth century. It is a mixture of the flamboyant 
Gothic and Renaissance. The interior, with its 
lofty Gothic arches, affords a curious and charming 
surprise in contrast with the severe Greek fagado. 

On Good Friday, 1918, while a special musical 
service was taking place at St. Gervais, and it was 
crowded with people, the church was hit by a shell 
from the German long-range gun. Falling upon the 
capital of one of the columns, it brought down the 
column upon the people, killing and injuring several 
hundreds and doing great damage to the fabric. This 
was one of the worst crimes committed by the Ger- 
mans in their shelling and bombing of Paris. 

An historic elm tree once grew under the shadow 
of this church, beneath whose leafy canopy the early 
kings used to sit to receive petitions and hear suits. 

In this part of old Paris begins the Marais, as it 
was called in the olden days when it succeeded the 
island of the City as the center of Court and fashion- 
able life. Take the Rue Francois Miron, close to 
the church and stop at No. 68 — the Hotel de Beau- 
vais, first getting a good view of it from the oppo- 

75 



PKESEN^T DAY PARIS 

site side of the street. Louis XIV gave this mansion 
to his mother's favorite femme de chamhre, Cather- 
ine Bellier, in return for services rendered. Cath- 
erine married Pierre Beauvais. Passing through the 
vestibule into the courtyard gives one an idea of 
what an admirable piece of work it is, for it still 
maintains its architectural dignity amid decayed and 
sometimes unsavory surroundings. The ram's head 
ornamentations are a playful reference to the maiden 
name of Pierre Beauvais' wife. 

Let us continue down this street, take the Rue 
Jouy (on the left), and follow it till we come to 
Rue Figuier. Passing down this thoroughfare of 
seventeenth century dwellings, we come in a few 
minutes to the finest relic of medieval Paris remain- 
ing — a belated lingerer, indeed, of an age that has 
passed. This is the Hotel de Sens, built (and very 
well built, too) in 1474, when Louis IX was king. 
It was the town house of the Archbishop of Sens, 
was occupied a century or more later by Queen Mar- 
got, the dfvorced wife of Henri IV, and has since 
passed through many vicissitudes. In the time of the 
Directory, tradition says, when it was a hostelry, the 
"Lyons Mail" used to leave the yard. 

Over a large part of this neighborhood once stood 
the vast Palace of St. Paul, with its gardens, which 
was built by Charles V. Several of the streets still 
bear names having reference to these places, such as 
Rue des Jardins, Rue des Lions (built on the site 
of the former royal menagerie), Rue de Beautreliis, 

76 



PAEIS OF THE MIDDLE AGES 

and 90 on. Famous old Lonses which existed here for 
ages have disappeared even in recent years. 

Wo can retrace our steps, or wo can go as far as 
the Rue St. Paul, which in a minute or two brings us 
to the busy thoroughfare of Rue St. Antoine, which 
leads into the Place de la Bastille. But if we are 
wise and have the timo we shall turn off the Rue St. 
Antoine and take the Rue Sevigne until we reach 
the Musee Camavalet. This fine old building, with 
its spacious garden, is now the museum of history of 
Paris, and indeed, it is not easy to know Paris with- 
out visiting it. It was built in 1544 by Lescot, the 
architect of the old Louvre, and after passing through 
various hands, was inhabited by Madame de Sevigne 
for eighteen years (from 1677). There are four 
rooms containing souvenirs of the siege of Paris, a 
gallery filled with mementoes of the Revolution, be- 
sides all sorts of historical souvenirs and relics, in- 
cluding pottery, of the Gallo-Roman, medieval and 
Renaissance periods. Souvenirs of iJsTapoleon, Mma 
de Sevigne, and other distinguished persons abound, 
and there are fine sculptures inside and out by Jean 
Goujon. The name of Camavalet is taken from one 
of the owners of the house, before the famous letter- 
writer. (This museum can also be reached by taking 
the underground railway to the St. Paul station.) 

A stone's throw from this Museum, in the Rue 
Yieille du Temple, is the building of the ISTational 
Archives, which was once the home of the de Guise 
family. A fortress stood here in the fourteenth 

77 



PEESEIN^T DAY PARIS 

century. The Archives contain some of the most in- 
teresting historical documents in French history, 
edicts, proclamations, trials^, parchments, seals, etc. 
It would take us too far to describe some of the in- 
teresting old houses in some of the streets in this 
neighborhood, but there are many worthy of a visit. 
A gem is the comer house, No. 54 Eue Vieille du 
Temple, now a workman's tavern, with the beau- 
tiful turret above it. At 'No. 87 is the National 
Printing Works, once the house of Cardinal de 
Eohan. The Duke of Orleans was assassinated in a 
small impasse at Wo. 38 Hue des Francs Bourgeois. 
No. 30 was once the home of Jean de Fourcy ; No. 
25 was the home of Diane, Duchess d'Angouleme, 
daughter of Henri II. 

The Rue Vieille du Temple and the Boulevard du 
Temple bring us to the Place de la Republique, 
which we have already visited. Louis XVI and Ma- 
rie Antoinette, it will be remembered, were impris- 
oned in the Temple. 

From the Place de la Republique to the Place de 
la Bastille is a short walk down the Boulevard du 
Temple and Boulevard Beaumarchais. Beaumar- 
chais had a fine house here, and some of his comedies 
were produced at a theater in the neighborhood, 
which no longer exists. 

In the middle of the Place de la Bastille is the 
Column of July, erected to commemorate the Revo- 
lution of July, 1830, and the fall of the Bastille, the 
famous prison fortress, which stood on the western 

78 



PAlilS OF THE MIDDLE AGES 

side of the Place. Charles V built the Bastille par- 
ticularly to defend his Palace of St. Paul; in later 
years it was a State prison and weapon of oppres- 
sion, until it was burned and destroyed by the Revo- 
lutionary mob in 1789. It was one of the earliest 
deeds of the Eevolution, and the fete of July Four- 
teenth each year is especially to celebrate it. (Read 
Carlyle again for this event.) The eastern limits of 
the Bastille are marked in white stones in the road- 
way near the opening of the Rue St. Antoine, but 
none of the pile itself is left. The six hundred odd 
patriots who are buried under the Colonne de Juillet 
are not, however, those who fell in the great Revolu- 
tion, but are the victims of the later rising, when 
Paris again revolted, with much bloodshed, under 
Charles X. The monument was erected a few years 
later, and it is a glory of the French people that if 
they have plenty of monuments celebrating military 
victories, they have also not a few recording the tri- 
umphs of the people over tyranny. 

I^Tow it is worth while returning a little way down 
the Rue St. Antoine, and taking the Rue dcs Tour- 
nelles, which recalls the Palais des Tournelles, built 
in 1390 near this spot by Charles VI. l^inon de 
I'Enclos died in the Rue des Tournelles in 1706 at 
ninety years of age. The Rue du Pas de Mule brings 
us to that magnificent remnant of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, the Place des "Vosges (which occupies ^the sit© 
of the courtyard of the Palais dcs Tournelles). 
Charles VI occupied the Palace; so did the Duke of 

79 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

Bedford when he was Regent of France after the 
death of Henry V of England. The last Monarch 
to dwell here was Henri II, who was injured in a 
tournament held in this court, dying a few days 
later. After this, his widow, Catherine de Medici, 
destroyed the Palace. As it now stands the square 
is the work of Henri IV, and this center of the once 
aristocratic Paris, where Kings and Cardinals came 
and went, surrounded by their knights and squires 
and noble dames, is now a playground for children 
and a ''snoozing-" place for modest "rentiers," or re- 
tired tradesmen, who are watched over by that ab- 
surd statue of Louis XIII. Richelieu lived at No. 
21 and the famous tragedienne, Rachel, at No. 13, 
while No. 6 was the home of Victor Hugo while he 
was writing many of his great works. His home is 
now a museum of relics of the poet, owned by the 
city of Paris. Several writers have remarked that 
this is one of the things which are better done in 
France than elsewhere. A visit to the Victor Hugo 
Museum, full of souvenirs of his changeful life and 
turbulent genius, gives one the impression that the 
great man has only just stepped out of the place, 
whereas so many museums of the sort leave one with 
no impression except of dry bones and painful in- 
discretions. 

Quite close to the Place des Vosges (back in Rue 
St. Antoine, No. 62) is the former residence of 
Henri IV's great Minister Sully, dating from 1624. 
Now let us go back about seventy yards, as far as 

80 



PARIS OF THE MIDDLE AGES 

tbo little Rue Beautrellis, from whence we take the 
first street, Rue Charles V. Here at Xo. 12, a fine 
house, lived the notorious Madame de Brinvilliers, 
the poisoner. Here she perpetrated the long series of 
murders for which she suffered torture and execu- 
tion. 

From the Place de la Bastille, or the Place des 
Vosges, via Boulevard Beaumarchais, one gains Rue 
de la Roquette, at the end of which is the celebrated 
Pere Lachaise Cemetery. It is so called after the 
Jesuit Confessor of Louis XIV and was opened as 
a cemetery in 1804. Covering an area of one hundred 
and ten acres, it contains over twenty thousand 
monuments. The directory of Pere Lachaise itself 
is quite a considerable volume, as many of the cele- 
brated men who have died in France during the past 
century are buried here, and the remains of some 
who died before that date were transferred hither, 
such as La Fontaine and Moliere. Passing down the 
avenues one meets name after name that pulls one 
up and evokes memories — Alfred de Musset, with 
the weeping willow over his tomb, if one loves poetry ; 
Chopin, if one is a musician ; Balzac, Thiers, Rachel, 
Sir Sydney Smith, Auber, Arago, Rossini, Cousin, 
the philosopher; Due de Morny, Cherubini, Suchet, 
Bellini, Talma, the great actor; Scribe, the drama- 
tist; Beaumarchais, ]\Iarshal Ney, Beranger, Oscar 
"Wilde (removed hither from Bagneux Cemetery) — 
what a ''God's acre" it is ! Some of the monuments 
are very beautiful and reposeful, if others perhaps 

81 



PKESENT DAY PARIS 

are a little too imposing for modem taste. Bar- 
tholome's superb monument to the Dead, in the cen- 
tral avenue, should be inspected. 

On All Saints' Day the Parisians make pilgrim- 
ages to the cemeteries, with wreaths, and as many as 
three thousand people visit Pere Lachaise every year 
in those gloomy days of early ISTovember. There is 
also a modern crematorium in Pere Lachaise. 

At either end of the Cemetery is a Metropolitain 
railway station, which will take one to any part of 
Paris one wishes in a few minutes. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE AET, GAYETY AND GENIUS OF PARIS— THE 
PARK MONCEAU, MONTMARTRE 

We aro now familiar with the various ways of 
getting to the Etoile, or Arc de Triomphe (perhaps 
the most pleasant of all, enabling one to see the town 
and the life at leisure, is one of those old-fashioned 
horse "voitures" that amble up without too much 
hurry). As I am arranging for you to see, first of 
all, on this occasion the Pare Monceau, it is not abso- 
lutely essential that you go to the Etoile, but the best 
approach to it is from here down the Avenue Hoche. 
Pare Monceau is the choice and secluded spot where 
lovers meet in romances, and one wants to be a lover 
again when visiting it, so dainty and suggestive of 
reverie is the place. Its history doesn't matter a jot, 
but its trees and green grass and tranquillity are 
everything — yet it is only a stone's throw from fairly 
busy thoroughfares. 

The tone of the park is given by the exquisite 
statues lingering like shadows of the past amid the 
foliage. There aro monuments of Chopin and 
Gounod, of Ambroise Thomas and Edouard Pail- 
loron, the dramatist, author o; "Le Monde ou Ton 
s'ennui." But the most pleasing is that of Guy de 

83 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

Maupassant, whose stories are like the bitter-sweet of 
life itself, and really it is his park. Under his bust 
is a sitting figure of a modem young Parisienne, 
graceful and thoughtful, reading one of his romances. 
I have alrea'dy mentioned the statues of Paris, which 
are better worth lingering over than such things are 
in most cities. Though some of them are like 
Madame Tussaud's "official" statues, making one feel 
that the artist had to please his client and could not 
therefore find much inspiration, yet on the whole the 
statues and monuments of the "Ville Lumiere" 
charm, attract and even astonish. Look on one of 
the lawns of this park at the figure of a chubby bo^ 
faun who is playing with his own tail ! What arcb 
ness and humor there are in this little personage, wh(J 
is certainly allied to do Maupassant and Pailleron. 
I think people who live overlooking the Pare Mon' 
ceau must have lived very good lives. 

Another museum — the Musee Cemuschi — is in 
the Avenue Velasquez, beside the park. It contains 
a very fine and rare collection of Chinese and Jap- 
anese art and antiquities, and was given to the city 
by a gentleman of the name by which the museum, 
goes. 

If we leave the park by the gilded gates leading to 
the Boulevard Malesherbes we shall shortly reach the 
Church of St. Augustine, a handsome and massive 
building, quite modem and containing a variety of 
styles, but otherwise not specially interesting. On 
the way we pass the statue of Shakespeare, presented 

84 



AET, GAYETY AND GENIUS OF PAKIS 

to the city by an English resident some years ago. 
Parisians are not particularly fond of Shakespeare. 
The statue of Joan of Arc in front of the church is 
more interesting (it is a replica of the one at 
Rheims). 

This Shakespeare is the only statue in the city to 
an Englishman, but as I have already pointed out, 
there are several statues to Americans. 

Now let us take the Boulevard Haussmann. On 
the right at the comer of the Eue d'Anjou is the 
Chapelle Expiatoire, which was erected by Louis 
XVIII in memory of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette 
and the Swiss Guard, on the spot where stood the 
Madeleine Cemetery, where they were first buried 
(their remains were removed to St. Denis in 1815). 

Following along the Boulevard to the St. Lazare 
station (the station for St. Cloud, Versailles, St. 
Germain, and other resorts in the West), and taking 
the Eue St. Lazare, we come shortly to the Church of 
La Trinite, modern and handsome, which has a fine 
choir. There are white marble fountains in the 
square in front of the church. La Trinite was not 
hit by shell or bomb, but like many other buildings 
in the city, it will be found to have been spattered by 
bits of exploding shell or shrapnel. There is scarcely 
any part of the city that escaped. 

In the Rue Chateaudun we come to another church 
— that of Notre Dame de Lorette, built in the style 
of the early Christian basilicas at Rome. It is lavish- 
ly decorated and contains some fine frescoes. The 

85 



PKESENT DAY PARIS 

Eue Lafayette is always interesting to visitors, be- 
cause it is the route from the Gare du Nord. In this 
street is the Church of St. Vincent de Paul, modern, 
and also in the basilica style. (Mrs. Beale quaintly 
says it is '^quite worthy of its titular Saint !" and as 
he was known as the "friend of the poor," the re- 
mark leaves one wondering what she meant!) Be- 
sides paintings by well-known modern artists, it con- 
tains a celebrated frieze by Flandrin, inspired by 
the mosaics at S. Apollinare I^uovo at Ravenna. 

Any of these streets leads us to Montmartre. Let 
us take Rue Blanche, where the Re jane Theater is 
(now in other hands and given another name), or the 
Rue des Martyrs, in which Balzac used to live. 
From the Place or Boulevard Clichy it is but a short 
way, passing the former Hippodrome (now a cinema- 
tograph) to the Montmartre Cemetery, the second 
burial ground in the city as regards size and interest. 
Scores of writers, musicians, actors, singers are 
buried here — among them Offenbach, Berlioz, Alex- 
andre Dumas fils, Ary Scheffer, Ernest Renan, the 
two Goncourts, Stendhal, Charcot, the great doctor; 
Horace Vernet, the painter of the Napoleonic epoch ; 
Murger, the writer of "La Vie de Boheme," to whom 
so many subsequent writers on Paris owe half their 
stock-in-trade, and, perhaps the best known of all, 
Heinrich Heine, with the tomb erected by the late 
Empress of Austria, on which (before the war) there 
was always a fresh wreath of violets. Matthew 
Arnold's great poem on Heine's grave makes many 

86 



AET, GAYETY AND GENIUS OF PAEIS 

want to visit it who do not know or do not care for 
the German poet's own work. 

What can one say of Montmartre as to which there 
is so much to be said, and of which so much has been 
written ? Montmartre represents the brains, the wit 
and the genius of France, as also its "blague" (or 
'^blarney"). It is mostly the home of the artists and 
of Bohemia, having years ago succeeded the Latin 
Quarter in this respect. 

To the casual visitor to Paris Montmartre stands 
for night cafes and a certain kind of nocturnal gayety 
divested of decorum, besides certain rather silly show 
places to which tourists go because it is the fashion 
to go to them when in Paris. But these places are 
not what have made Montmartre popular among the 
Parisians. 

The real Cabarets of Montmartre were started 
with the famous "Chat Noir" in 1882, at which the 
gifted and witty Eodolphe Salis was surrounded by 
artists, poets and wits, most of whom have since be- 
come celebrated. Maurice Donnay, the Academi- 
cian of to-day and a very clever dramatist, used to 
recite his own poems here and make fun of the Acad- 
emy, while Gustave Charpentier, the composer of 
"Louise," played the piano. Besides music and verse, 
the entertainments at the "Chat Noir" used to con- 
sist of plays performed by miniature marionettes, 
the parts being sung and accompanied by author and 
composer, while the old-fashioned "shadowgraphs" 
were revived and greatly developed. Salis himself 

87 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

had a wonderful gift of improvisation, and the 
cabaret soon earned a widespread fame and had to 
take larger premises. Since then a number of cab- 
arets have been started in Montmartre, some of 
which, like the ^'Lune Rousse/' have continued the 
traditions of the "Chat ISToir" and are great and de- 
served favorites with Parisians for their wit, ingenu- 
ity and the kind of broad humor beloved of the 
French. Of course, one has to know the language of 
Moliere pretty well to enjoy the fun at these places. 
Most of the famous restaurants and night cafes 
which are the nightly resorts of cosmopolitan roister- 
ers (when they are open, which has not been the case 
much since the war on account of the coal and other 
restrictions) are on and around the Boulevard 
Clichy. Most former visitors know the ''Rat Mort" 
and the "Abbaye de Theleme." 

' Behind the Boulevard de Clichy is the Church of 
the Sacre Coeur. Take one of the steep streets that 
go up to the "Butte" de Montmartre, preferably the 
Rue de Sevest from Boulevard Rochechouart. 
' This hill is considered to be sacred ground. The 
name Montmartre has been given several origins; 
some say it is "Mont Martis," the hill of Mars ; others 
"Mons Martyrum," the hill of the Martyr. St. Denis, 
a patron saint of Paris, was beheaded at the foot of 
the hill, and, legend says, he rose, picked up his head 
and carried it to the summit of the hill, where he 
was buried. The hill at its highest point is 2,330 
feet above the level of the Seine. It is worth the 

88 



AKT, GAYETY AND GENIUS OF PARIS 

climb (though you can also come by the funicular 
railway) for the saie of the fine view of Paris to be 
obtained hence, apart from the visit to the Sacred 
Heart Church. 

It was on Montmartre that the Commune broke 
out, the Communists having taken possession of the 
caimon on the hill on March 18, 1871. In May they 
were dislodged ajid the batteries of the height were 
turned against them in their refuges at the Buttes 
Chaumont and Pere Lachaise. 

The building of this Romanesque Church of the 
Sacred Heart, with its Byzantine dome, was decided 
on by the National Assembly in 1874, and the ex- 
pense of it has been enormous, the foundations alone 
costing four million francs. Public subscriptions and 
the fees paid for visiting the crypt and other parts of 
the church have defrayed these expenses. The Ba- 
silica was not consecrated until 1891, and even then 
was not finished. It must be confessed that the dis- 
tant view of the Sacre Coeur is more interesting than 
the near one, for the church is somber and has noth- 
ing particularly attractive about it. Near by is the 
oldest church in Paris — St. Pierre — said to have been 
founded by Louis VI, but which at any rate belonged 
to a Benedictine Monastery in the twelfth century. 
St. Bernard is said to have been present at the conse- 
cration. Little of this older edifice now remains, but 
the marble columns in the church are supposed to 
have formed part of a Temple of Mars built by the 
Romans. 

89 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

In former days Montmartre was celebrated for its 
•windmills, and the two famous dancing halls, the 
Moulin Rouge (who has not been there whose ac- 
quaintance with Paris does not date from quite re- 
cent times ?), and the Moulin de la Galette, are jocu- 
lar references to the fact. The heyday of these places, 
however, dates from even before the youth of the 
present generation — the days when the "cancan" was 
supposed to be a "naughty" dance and famous "high- 
kickers" like "Nini-Patte-en-l'Air" ("Nini with the 
paws in the air") used to divert the town. Dancing 
of a somewhat riotous variety, followed by copious 
suppers, with special dishes and drink, has always 
been a favorite diversion of the Parisians, and there 
were numerous dancing halls in various parts of the 
city. These dancing halls were very different from 
the fashionable dancing places in vogue to-day, which 
are frequented by quite another class. 
. Montmartre has many painters' studios and sculp- 
tors' ateliers. When the war broke out and artists 
of the humbler class, students and models fell upon 
evil days, a society opened cooperative kitchens to 
cater for these people at a very low charge, or noth- 
ing at all, if they could not afford anything (the 
funds being helped out by subscriptions). Large 
studios were used for the purpose, and the guests 
often helped in the preparation of the meals. 



CHAPTER IX 

ARISTOCEATIO 'AND PIOUS PARIS— THE LUXEM- 
BOURG, THE PANTHEON, ST. ETIENNE, 
ST. SULPICE 

The Boulevard St. Germain begins, as we have 
already seen, on the left bank of the Seine, in front 
of the Chamber of Deputies. It is the longest boule- 
vard on this side of the river. Quite recently por- 
tions of it have been renamed, the names of famous 
generals having been adopted, just as Avenue du 
Trocadero has been renamed Avenue du President 
Wilson. It seems a pity that the time-honored names 
should go, much as one may admire the generals of 
the great war. 

By the St. Germain quarter is meant the quarter 
of the aristocracy and the higher bourgeoisie, as this 
boulevard, but more particularly the neighboring 
streets. Rue de Crenelle, rue de I'Universite, Rue de 
Lille, running about parallel with it, were made the 
home of the Parisian aristocracy after its removal 
from the Marais. In Rue de Grenelle (at No. 18) 
was the home of Josephine, it being the mansion of 
the Beauharnais family; the Duchesse d'Estrees 
lived at Iso. 79^ which is now the Russian Embassy, 
and Adrienne Lecouvreur was buried at the back of 

91 



PEESEXT DAY PAEIS 

"No. 115, in unconsecrated ground. The Rue de 
I'Universite, as also the Rue St. Dominique, are also 
full of historical houses or of mansions built by the 
heads of distinguished aristocratic families. 

Continuing along the Boulevard St. Germain, the 
first big building which we find on the right is the 
Ministry of War, which suffered a good deal during 
the war from shell fragments and shrapnel. At the 
entrance to the fine new Boulevard Raspail is the 
striking statue of Danton, the Revolutionary leader — 
the man who in France's darkest hour, in September, 
1792, rallied the wavering courage of the Assembly 
with his cry for "I'Audace! — Encore de VAudace! et 
toujour de VAudace." He was arrested six months 
later by order of Robespierre in his house, which 
stood on the spot where this statue now is. 

Facing the statue is a high doorway, with the in- 
scription over it, "Cour de Commerce." Here we 
breathe the spirit of the Revolution, for at ISTo. 8 
Marat's sheet, "L'Ami du Peuple," was printed (it 
is still a printer's), and opposite, at No. 9, a Mon- 
sieur Guillotin experimented with his decapitating 
machine on sheep ! His guillotine has ever since been 
the official instrument for the execution of criminals 
in France. At No. 4 is a locksmith's shop, in which 
is to be found a curious relic of very old Paris — the 
base of one of the towers of the wall of Philip Au- 
gustus. Turning through an old gateway here we 
come to the quaint old-fashioned Cour de Rouen, or 
"de Rohan," as it is usually spelled nowadays, but 

92 



ARISTOCRATIC AND PIOUS PARIS 

this is wrong, for it is the site of the town house of 
the Archbishop of Rouen. Before that it was the 
garden belonging to the physician of Louis XI, which 
had been built on the ruins of the city wall of Philip 
Augustus. Further on to the right is a house built 
over an arch, which was built by Henri II and occu- 
pied by Diane de Poitiers. 

At the corner of Boulevard St. Germain, which 
leads to the Rue de Rennes, we come to another of 
these old-world courts — the Cour du Dragon. Over 
the high archway a dragon perches on the fagade. 
This is eighteenth century Paris, with the gutter 
running in the middle of the paving-stones. The 
old shops are given up to the industry of small goods 
in iron, as they have been for two centuries past. 
At the end of the Cour is an old house which gives 
one a very good idea of the domestic architecture in 
the time of Louis XIII. 

We return to the Boulevard, and visit the Church 
of St. Germain des Pres (or St. Germain of the 
Fields), parts of which date from the eleventh cen- 
tury. Take a good view of it from the other side of 
the Boulevard, for it is a very picturesque building — 
full of character and charm — as well as an extremely 
interesting one. St. Germain, according to the story, 
was a Bishop of Paris in the sixth century; he was 
afterwards canonized. Childebert, son of Clovis, 
was then king, and he brought a great deal of spoil 
home from his wars in Spain, including the "Tunio of 
St. Vincent." He built a church to receive it, which 

93 



PRESENT DAY PAEIS 

was dedicated to St. Vincent, but when St. Germain 
died and was buried here, and many miraculous cures 
of the sick took place around his tomb, the name was 
changed. His church was called "of the Fields/' to 
distinguish it from the other St. Germain, at the 
Louvre. In the middle ages there was a monastery 
contiguous, and most of what one sees of the church 
now has been rebuilt or restored — several times in- 
deed. IN'evertheless St. Germain des Pres is still the 
oldest church in Paris, as a part of the nave dates 
from the eleventh century. 

Some characteristic streets of old-time Paris are 
to be found opening on one's left as one proceeds east- 
ward along the Boulevard St. Germain — Rues de la 
Petite Boucherie, Echaude, de Seine, de Gregoire de 
Tours, and the Rue de I'Ancienne Comedie, at the 
end of which one gets a glimpse of the dome of the 
Institut de France. 

Let us, however, cross the Boulevard St. Germain 
and take the Rue Bonaparte, which will shortly bring 
us to another church — that of St. Sulpice, in the 
Place of the same name. IlTote the atmosphere 
around here. One might be in a pious provincial 
town, so quiet and solemn is this quarter, with its air 
of devotion and scholarship, its bookshops, largely de- 
voted to theological and pious publications, and others 
for the sale of church ornaments and articles of de- 
votion. It is quite a different city from Montmartre, 
for instance, with its shabby Bohemianism, or the 
Boulevard's half busy, half "flaneur." 

94: 



ARISTOCRATIC AND PIOUS PARIS 

The center of the Place St. Sulpice is adorned with 
a fine fountain ; those four great preachers around it 
seem to be watching over the neighborhood to prevent 
anything like frivolity. Approached from several 
points, the Church of St. Sulpice is picturesque and 
impressive, but it is cold and classical inside and can- 
not compete in beauty or interest with numerous other 
Paris churches. The church dates from 1646, the 
foundation stone having been laid by Anne of Aus- 
tria. It is famous for its organ. 

The large building which takes up one side of the 
square was formerly a seminary (Ernest Renan, au- 
thor of the Life of Jesus, studied here), and when 
the war broke out it was being prepared to become a 
picture gallery and receive the overflow from the 
Luxembourg. During the war it housed refugees and 
soldiers. 

At the end of the Rue Bonaparte we come to the 
Luxembourg Gardens. This is a beautiful Renais- 
sance garden, in which there are some striking and 
interesting statues, and three remarkable fountains, 
which the visitor should not miss — the Medicis foun- 
tain, with sculptured groups of Polyphemus surpris- 
ing Acis and Galatea ; the Fountain of Leda, repre- 
senting the metamorphosis of Jupiter into a swan ; and 
on the south side, en route for the Observatory, the 
Carpeaux Fountain, with sea-horses by Fremiet, alle- 
gorical figures bearing a sphere by Carpeaux, and 
water-spouting dolphins. There are statues in the 
gardens to many distinguished literary people and 

95 



PEESENT DAY PARIS 

others, while the statues to the Queens of France, 
though perhaps not too reliable, are nevertheless in- 
teresting. 

The Luxembourg Museum, at the Eue de Vaugi- 
rard gate of the gardens, has been called the "ante- 
room" to the Louvre, as it contains sculpture and 
paintings by recently deceased or still living artists, 
including numerous Americans. The sculpture in 
the Luxembourg is particularly notable for the nu- 
merous examples of Rodin to be found here, but there 
is also fine work by Meunier, Fremiet, and other 
great modern sculptors. The painting includes works 
by Degas, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Puvis de Chavan- 
nes, Harpignies, Rosa Bonheur, Eugene Carriere, 
Whistler and other representative artists. 

A little further along the Rue de Vaugirard and 
we come to the Palace of the Luxembourg. Erected 
in 1612 for Marie de Medici, Queen of Henri IV, 
and remaining a royal residence until the Revolu- 
tion, when it became a prison, and afterwards again 
the seat of Government under the Directorate and 
Consulate (when magnificent fetes were given within 
its walls), it has been the headquarters of the Senate 
since the time of N'apoleon I, except for a brief in- 
terval under Louis Philippe. The President of the 
Senate resides in the wing known as the Petit Luxem- 
bourg. 

A few steps beyond the Palace, on the left, is the 
Odeon Theatre, the home of classical as well as mod- 
eni plays; it is the fourth State-subventioned theater. 

96 



ARISTOCRATIC AND PIOUS PARIS 

Notice the approach to the theater from the Boule- 
vard St. Germain, and do not miss the statue of Au- 
g'lCT, the dramatist (author of numerous plays popu- 
lar with the French public) in front of the theater, 
but especially the charming and graceful figures 
around the pedestal — Comedy and the intensely Pa- 
risian boy, with the player's mask brandishing the 
whip of satire. There is quite an old-world air about 
the neighborhood of the Odeon and the bookshop that 
occupies the arcade around it. At No. 1 Place de 
rOdeon once stood the Cafe Procope, the most famous 
of the cafes of the eighteenth century, which, says 
Jules Janin, was the "boudoir, the school, the Acad- 
emy and the Champ de Mars of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, the rendezvous of the most violent and the most 
timid minds of the time." It was particularly fa- 
vored by Voltaire and all the wits of both before 
and after his time. 

Opposite the Senate, at the top of the Rue de Tour- 
non, where in the sixteenth century there used to be 
a horse market, is the Restaurant Foyot, a house fa- 
vored by epicures and largely patronized by the Sena- 
tors. 

Just round the Luxembourg Gardens, to which we 
now return, is the Boulevard St. Michel, which is the 
real Latin Quarter, the home of the students and (in 
the time when they were so much written about by 
Murger and others) of the "grisette," or Mimi-Pin- 
son (called "grisette" from her gray stuff frock). 
Turning up the Rue Soufflot, we see facing us the 

97 



PEESENT DAY PARIS 

Pantheon (Soufflot was the name of the architect). 
The foundation stone of this building was laid by 
Louis XV on the site of a church dedicated to St. 
Genevieve, the Saint having been buried here in the 
Church of the Holy Apostles in 511. Still unfinished 
when the Revolution broke out, the Convention secu- 
larized it, converting it into a temple. Louis XVIII 
restored it to religious uses, but it was again secu- 
larized in 1885, when Victor Hugo was buried there. 
The first great man to be buried here was Mirabeau, 
but his remains were removed and scattered later by 
fickle mobs, as were those of Marat. One can, how- 
ever, visit the tombs in the vaults, under the guidance 
of a guardian (one of the drawbacks to visiting monu- 
ments in and around Paris is the irritating presence 
of guardians, and in the vaults of the Pantheon there 
seems no earthly reason for it, as no one can steal 
tombs, as the "Gioconda" was stolen from the Lou- 
vre), of Voltaire, Rousseau, Lazare Carnot, Marshal 
Lannes, President Sadi-Carnot, Emile Zola and Rou- 
get de Lisle. The dome, which rivals St. Paul's, Lon- 
don, and St. Peter's, Rome, is two hundred and sev- 
enty-nine feet high, four hundred and twenty-five 
steps leading to it. The fagade is reminiscent of the 
Pantheon at Rome. Do not miss the splendid fres- 
coes by Puvis de Chavannes, representing the life of 
St. Genevieve and other subjects, the paintings by 
J. P. Laurens and other artists, or the "Penseur" of 
Rodin. 

Just behind the Pantheon, to the left, is the fasci- 
98 



ARISTOCRATIC AND PIOUS PARIS 

Dating church of St. Etienne du Mont (or St. Ste- 
phen of the Hill), often also known as the Church of 
St. Genevieve. The Abbey of St. Genevieve, founded 
by Clovis, once stood here, and the Saint is supposed 
to have been buried close by. That rugged tov^er — 
Tour de Clovis — which is seen on the right is a relic 
of the old building. The present church was built 
early in the sixteenth century, in late Gothic, though 
finished in Renaissance, which had meanwhile be- 
come the vogue. The interior is very picturesque, 
with its mixture of the two styles, its fine "Jube" or 
rood loft (the only one in the city), a magnificent 
pulpit, and the shrine of Genevieve, where candles 
are perpetually burning. The tomb, the contents of 
which were taken out and burned during the Revo- 
lution, is the object of interesting pilgrimages, and 
one can rarely visit it without finding dozens of peo- 
ple praying around it, while it is said still to be po- 
tent in working cures. There are some fine chapels 
in the church, and beautiful stained glass, including 
the l^end of the wine press. It also contains epi- 
taphs of some of France's celebrities, notably Racine 
and Pascal. 

The large building on the north side of the Place 
du Pantheon is the St. Genevieve Library. The Rue 
St. Jacques, running parallel with the Boulevard St. 
Michel, is one of a number of very interesting streets 
to be found in this neighborhood. No. 289 was once 
the homo of Madame du Barry, the beauty of humble 
birth, who became the mistress of Louis XV and lost 

99 



PEESENT DAY PARIS 

her head in the Terror. Farther up the street is the 
Hospital of Val-de-Grace. 'No. 269 was a monastery 
of English Benedictines, whither the body of James 
II was brought in 1701. No. 284, once a Carmelite 
Convent, was the last refuge of another royal favor- 
ite, Louise de la Valliere, who lived here for thirty- 
six years. Under the streets hereabouts are the Cata- 
combs. 

If we now return to the Boulevard St. Michel and 
continue on our right, we come to the Sorbonne, or 
University of Paris, the seat of the Faculties of Liter- 
ature and Science. Founded in 1256 by St. Louis, 
at the desire of his confessor, Robert Sorbon, it was 
originally meant as a theological college for poor stu- 
dents. The University was under the Monarchy, al- 
ways surrounded with the greatest care and accorded 
special privileges, and Louis X, to justify ever fresh 
privileges granted to it, in the eyes of his courtiers, 
said: "The faith owes its preservation to it, society 
its elegance and its manners, and the entire world its 
knowledge and enlightenment." How important 
Paris was as a seat of learning in the middle ages 
there are many evidences to attest. There were for- 
ty-two colleges in 1465 (according to Victor Hugo) ; 
while in 1648, according to another authority, Paris 
possessed fifty colleges, sixteen hospitals, and one 
hundred and ninety churches and convents. Riche- 
lieu erected a building for the theological faculty, but 
it has been almost entirely rebuilt since 1885, with 
the exception of the church. In the interior there 

100 



ARISTOCRATIC AND PIOUS PARIS 

aro some fine paintings and sculptures. The Grand 
Amphitheater will hold thirty-five thousand persons. 
Puvis do Chavannes' fresco on the wall is famous. 
In front of the church is a statue of Auguste Comte, 
and inside the tomb of Richelieu. 

The College de France is in the Rue des Ecoles, at 
the corner of Rue St. Jacques. It was founded by 
Francis I, and its forty chairs are occupied by some 
of the most eminent men in the various branches of 
science, history, literature, etc. In the garden is a 
statue of Dante, who is said to have been a poor stu- 
dent at the University, some of his biogTaphers claim- 
ing that he spent about two years in Paris, living in 
the neighboring Rue do Bievre. 

Descending the Boulevard St. Michel, at its junc- 
tion with Boulevard St. Germain, is the Cluny Mu- 
seum, in some respects the most interesting museum 
in France. It occupies the site of an old Roman pal- 
ace, supposed to have been founded by the Emperor 
Constantine Chlorus, who resided in Gaul (229-306). 
Julian was proclaimed Emperor here, and the earlier 
Kings of the Franks lived in the Palace. 

In the course of time the place fell into ruins, and 
only the thermal baths now remain. The Abbot of 
Cluny, in Burgundy, bought the ruin in 1340, but it 
was not until a century later that the present superb 
hotel was erected as a town residence for the Bishops 
of Cluny. In 1537 Madeleine, the daughter of 
Francis I, was married here to James V of Scotland. 
In 1833 the house was bought by a M. Sommerand, 

101 



PEESENT DAY PARIS 

a wealthy connoisseur, to house his collection of me- 
dieval and Renaissance works of art, and ten years 
later the Government purchased the hotel and the col- 
lection. The tapestries, French and Italian pottery, 
della Robbia ware, carved woodwork of all kinds, ceil- 
ings, chimneys, metal work, lace, ivory, carriages, Se- 
dan chairs, etc., make it one of the finest artistic col- 
lections in Europe. 

Now let us follow Boulevard St. Germain to the 
right as far as the Quai and continue along the Quai 
as far as the bridge (Pont d'Austerlitz), and we come 
to the Jardin des Plantes, the botanical and zoo- 
logical gardens of Paris and museum of natural his- 
tory. Its comparative anatomy and natural history 
collections founded by Buffon, have grown to be the 
most complete in the world. There are a large li- 
brary and an amphitheater, where free lectures are 
given. The cedar (forty feet in circumference) is 
famous. It was brought from Lebanon by the scien- 
tist in his hat, and as water was scarce, he often de- 
prived himself to give to the sapling. 

Between tlie Cluny Museum and the river are two 
churches worth visiting. St. Severin, in the street 
of the same name, on the other side of the Boulevard 
of St. Germain, is so shut in between a rookery of 
crowded houses, that it is somewhat difficult to find ; 
nevertheless it is very interesting, dating as it does 
from the thirteenth century, though it has been added 
to from time to time. It contains some fine Gothic 
work, but the west portal was brought to it from an- 

102 



ARISTOCRATIC AN^D PIOUS PARIS 

other church that was demolished on the Cite in 1837. 
There is a curious souvenir in connection with this 
church ; on a portion of the ground once stood a grave- 
yard, and here, in 1461, we are told, the first opera- 
tion for stone was carried out on a man condemned to 
death, the operation being so successful that Louis XI 
pardoned his crime. 

Off the Rue St. Jacques, near the Sorbonne build- 
ing, is a little street, St. Julien-le-Pauvre, and a few 
yards down this (right) is a gateway taking one into 
the Church of St. Julien-le-Pauvre. Though not 
much to look at now, and though very considerably 
diminished from what it once was, for at one time the 
church covered all this space (the wall on the left in 
the courtyard was once part of the northern wall of 
the nave, and the well we can see was once within 
the church), this church is of great antiquity. The 
first religious house on the spot was destroyed by the 
Norsemen; three hundred years later (in the twelfth 
century) the church was rebuilt and a big priory re- 
established. In the middle ages St. Julien was the 
place of assembly of the Paris University. In the 
seventeenth century it became attached to the old 
Hotel-Dieu as its chapel. It was used as a salt ware- 
house during the Revolution, while now it is given 
over to a congregation of the Greek church. 

Here is the heart of the old-time Latin Quarter. 
Mass at St. Julien-lc-Pauvre at five o'clock in the win- 
ter was the signal for the commencement of the 
classes, by candle-light. We are close to the Place 

103 



PEESENT DAY PARIS 

Maubert, whicli was one of the most notorious places 
in the middle ages (it is now very altered and en- 
larged, as the Boulevard St. Germain runs through it, 
and the market occupies the site of a monastery). 
Another once disreputable street in a disreputable 
neighborhood is the Rue des Anglais ( !). The Rue 
Eouarre is so-called from the straw (fourrage) on 
which the students used to sit or lie to listen to lec- 
tures. The statue near the market, in the Place Mau- 
bert, by the way, is of Etienne Dolet, one of the great 
men of the Renaissance, who was burned on this spot 
for his advanced teachings. 

If we take the Rue Monge from this square, or 
from Rou des Ecoles, a few yards brings us to the 
Square Monge, where there is a notable statue of 
Villon, the vagrant poet of Louis XI's time. In the 
Rue ISTavarre, a little farther along, there is a gate- 
way admitting to the Arenes de Lutece. This Ra- 
man amphitheater, constructed, it is supposed, about 
the second century, was accidentally discovered about 
1870, and further researches in 1883 resulted in the 
portion now seen being laid bare, though some two 
thirds of the structure are still believed to be under- 
ground. 



CHAPTER X 

THE PARIS OF PLEASUEE— THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE, 
THE RACE COUESES 

To reach the Parisians' great pleasure park, the 
Bois de Boulogne, the easiest way is to take a train 
on the Underground railway to the Porte Maillot, or 
the Port Dauphine (the one at the end of the Avenue 
de la Grande Aniiee, the other close to the entrance 
to the Bois in the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne). 
One should, however, not omit to see the Avenue du 
Bois de Boulogne, a charming residential quarter for 
wealthy people and a favorite promenade for those 
who wish to meet their friends, to show their smart 
toilettes, or be in "the swim," especially on Sundays 
■ — in the morning for the more leisured classes, and 
in the afternoon for the lesser bourgeois and the work- 
ers. Walk, then, down the Avenue du Bois de Bou- 
logne from the Arc de Triomphe; there are always 
promenaders, horsemen, and children with their "nou- 
nous." There are many fine houses in the leafy ave- 
nue; note the replica of the Trianon (on the right), 
built for Madame Anna Gould, now Duchesse de Tal- 
leyrand. 

Of the other broad avenues starting from the Place 
de FEtoile, the Avenue Victor Hugo leads to the 

105 



PKESENT DAY PARIS 

statue of Victor Hugo ; the Avenue de la Grande Ar- 
mee, so called because it is a processional route, leads 
to the suburb of Neuilly, the Seine, and scenes of 
fighting in the War of 1870-1. Here is one of the 
numerous gates of Paris in the fortifications. Paris 
is soon to lose her fortifications, which are, of course, 
useless against modem artillery and the latest engines 
of warfare. Their place is to be taken by gardens 
and allotments, and one of the results will be to give 
the city much more breathing space and "elbow 
room." 

There was formerly a chateau at Neuilly, which 
was the residence of Louis Philippe, but it was de- 
stroyed in the Revolution of 1848. There is a statue 
(behind the Mairie) to Parmentier, who introduced 
the potato into France. A famous and popular fete 
every year is the Neuilly Pair, which is held in sum- 
mer in the Avenue de JSTeuilly, a prolongation of the 
Avenue de la Grande Armee, and covers nearly two 
miles. Parisians go out in tens of thousands to visit 
this fair and enjoy its somewhat childish pleasures. 

The best way of seeing the Bois de Boulogne is, 
first of all, to drive through it in a horse carriage, 
telling your driver to go rather slowly in order that 
you may enjoy the charming woodland glimpses 
which the wood affords. 

Formerly part of the extensive forest of Rouvray 
and Crown property until 1848, the Bois was taken 
over by the Municipality in 1852 and made into the 
present park. During the Revolution it was the 

106 



THE PARIS OF PLEASURE 

refugo of many who were proscribed, and at all times 
it was a famous resort of duelists, many a famous 
encounter liaving taken place here. Even ladies have 
crossed weapons in quiet corners, and in the time of 
Louis XV the Marquise de Nesles and the Comtesse 
de Polignac exchanged pistol shots on account of the 
Due de Richelieu. The fine trees were cut down in 
the War of 1870, to prevent the Germans from using 
them as hiding-places for guns. 

The Allee de Longchamp, or Avenue des Acacias, 
which your cab will probably first take, is the most 
fashionable promenade in the Bois; it is about one 
and one-half miles in length. On fine Sunday morn- 
ings there is quite a parade of beauty and fashion 
and gallantry here ; it might be called the Rotten Row 
of the French capital. The flower battles which have 
taken place here in recent years are quite charming 
functions. This portion of the woods used to be 
called the "Empress's Alley," and during the Second 
Empire it was the resort of all the wealth and ele- 
gance of the town. Emile Zola, in La Curee, 
gives a brilliant picture of the place in those days. 
"It was four o'clock," he writes, "and the Bois awoke 
from the heaviness of the hot afternoon. Along the 
'Avenue do I'lmpcratrice clouds of dust rose up, while 
in the distance could be seen the stretches of ver- 
dure bordering the slopes of St. Cloud and Su.- 
resnes, crowned by the gray mass of Mont Valerien. 
The sun, which was still high up over the horizon, 
poured down, filling the hollows between the foliage 

107 



PEESENT DAY PARIS 

with a shower of gold, lighting up the higher 
branches, changing this ocean of foliage to an ocean 
of light. The varnished panels of the carriages, the 
flashes of light from pieces of copper and steel, the 
brilliant colors of the toilettes passed at the regular 
trot of the horses and cast on the depths of the wood 
a broad moving band, like a ray fallen from the sky, 
which followed the curves of the road. The sheen 
of sunshades shone like metal moons." 

Change horse-carriages for silent and elegant mo- 
tor cars, and the picture would not be wrong in the 
early summer of 1920. 

At the end of the Allee de Longchamp is the water- 
fall known as La Cascade. A fine view of the coun- 
try round the Seine, including St. Cloud and Su- 
resnes, can be had from the path above this water- 
fall. 

In front is the Longchamp race course. The wind- 
mill is all that remains of the famous Abbey of Long- 
champ, founded by Isabelle, sister of St. Louis, in 
1256. 

Races were organized under Louis Philippe in the 
Bois. The Due d'Orleans, Due de Nemours, Lord 
Seymour, Due de Fitz James used to lay small wagers, 
such as bottles of champagne, as M. Georges Cain 
reminds us, on the performances of their horses, and 
gradually the races became a Parisian "event." The 
Jockey Club was then only in its infancy. The most 
famous race contested at Longchamp is the Grand 
Prix, run on a Sunday at the end of June and worth 

108 



THE PARIS OF TLEASURE 

300,000 francs; and tho sight of the hundreds of 
thousands of Parisians who attend this "classic" 
event wending their way there in cabs, carts, omni- 
buses, or by any other method that may present it- 
self, is a sight not easily forgotten. Grand Prix Day 
for many years was a perfect bacchanalia, and won- 
derful stories have been told of the Lucullan feasts 
given in the evening by lucky winners or fortunate 
owners. 

The restaurants in the Bois are inclined to be dear, 
to say the least of it, but one always gets the best. 
The Armenonville is a favorite with foreigners as 
well as wealthy Parisians. The Pre-Catelan is so- 
called after a famous troubadour, Catelan, who 
was assassinated here in the days of Philippe le Bel. 
Though one does not go any more to drink warm 
milk fresh from the cow at the Pre-Catelan farm, 
the place is always crowded on fine days for after- 
noon tea. There is an open-air theater, where per- 
formances take place in summer. 

But on fine Sundays, during most of the year, the 
Bois de Boulogne is all a big restaurant, or picnick- 
ing place, whole families bringing their bags or bas- 
kets of provisions, with bread and wine (which is put 
in the earth to keep cool), and games or books, and 
camping there most of the day, in improvised "sa- 
lons" under the canopy of green leaves. 

The part of the Bois on the Neuilly side is known 
as Madrid, a chateau of this name having been built 
hero by Francis I. It was latterly a hotel and res- 

109 



PKESENT DAY PARIS 

taurant, but has now been turned to other uses. A 
visit should be made to Bagatelle, on the route to 
!Neuilly, a charming miniature chateau, built in one 
month by the Comte d'Artois as the result of a wager 
made with Queen Marie Antoinette, and hence called 
"Folie Bagatelle." In later years it belonged to Sir 
Richard Wallace, who added to it, especially the 
kitchens and domestic apartments, which are placed 
in raised mounds on either side of the main build- 
ing. On his death it was left to the municipality, 
the Wallace collection of pictures, largely of the 
French school, being left to London. Picture and 
other exhibitions take place in the chateau from time 
to time, and flower shows in the gardens, the display 
of roses and sweet peas each year being noted. 

The Jardin d'Acclimatation, or Zoological Gar- 
dens, should be visited. There is an interesting col- 
lection of animals, the chief idea of the gardens be- 
ing to acclimatize useful animals and plants. A lit- 
tle tramway runs to the gardens through the Bois 
from the Porte Maillot. 

Boating is to be had on the two fine lakes — the Lac 
Superieur and the Lac Inferieur, while there are 
sports grounds, where tennis, polo and other sports 
are practiced. 

One should finish one's visit to the Bois at the 
pretty little race course of Anteuil, famous for its 
steeplechasing and hurdle-racing. Some forty race 
meetings are held here annually, the most famous 
race being the Grand Steeplechase de Paris. 

110 



THE PAKIS OF PLEASURE 

If one liu3 been walking one can now with advan- 
tage return to town by leaving the Bois close to the 
Auteuil race course and taking the tram (No. 16) 
back to the Madeleine Church. If, however, you are 
on the other side of the Bois, you will find it best 
to take the Metropolitan railway at the Porte Dau- 
phine, just outside the principal gate. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE STOMACH OF PAEIS— THE CENTEAX, MARKETS, 
ST. EUSTACHE, MEMORIES OF THE PAST 

What Emile Zola called the "Ventre de Paris" is 
one of the most interesting and instructive quarters 
of the great city. Round the Halles Centrales (or 
Central Markets) is a perfect town and a huge popu- 
lation devoted to the feeding of Paris, for besides 
the markets themselves whole streets surrounding 
them are given up, some to fish, or "langoustes," 
some to fruit, others to meat, cheese, and so on. 

A good center from which to start to see all this 
is again the Chatelet (with its station of the under- 
ground railway) ; we cross the Rue de Rivoli and 
proceed down the Rue St. Denis (which is the mid- 
dle ages was the longest, handsomest and richest 
street in Paris), until we come to the Halles Cen- 
trales. These markets, built in 1851, occupy twen- 
ty-two acres of ground and have under them twelve 
thousand storage cellars. It is especially interesting 
to visit these immense provision stores at about five 
o'clock on a summer's morninjr. All night loner lines 
of carts full of market garden produce and other 
foodstuffs have been wending their way through the 
silent streets of the city toward the Halles, and it 

"112 



THE STOMACH OF PARIS 

is surprising what immense preparations are needed 
for the feeding of a big city like this. 

A favorite pastime of people who have had a 
"night out" at Montmartre used to bo to finish up at 
the markets, to witness a life so different from their 
own, watching the porters and fishwives at their la- 
bors. The fashion on these occasions was to indulge 
in food and drink (onion soup is a great favorite) 
at ono of the somewhat rough-looking restaurants 
surrounding the market, among honest market peo- 
ple, "cochers de fiacre," and shady characters; — and 
fancy stories are often told of the desperate charac- 
ters with whom elegantly dressed "mondaines" have 
rubbed shoulders in the presumed "thieves' kitch- 
ens" on these thrilling occasions! It can bo made 
amusing once or twice in a long while, if one is in 
gay company and brings one's carriage back filled 
with fruit and flowers ; but as for the desperate char- 
acters, we may be sure the police know where they 
are as well as we do. The "forts des Halles," or 
"strong men" of the HaBes, with their immense hats, 
are picturesque figures. 

Sunday morning is another interesting time to 
visit the Halles, and it is curious how picturesque the 
handling of large masses of provisions can be. Many 
and many a housewife comes to the Central Markets 
to do her modest shopping and get what is to be 
had cheap aftqr the big purveyors and restaurateurs 
have made their choice. Economy is the watchword 

113 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

of the French cuisine, and the small purse is as well 
looked after here as the more elastic one. The 
French "menagere," too, likes to huy her bit of vege- 
table fresh each day, rather than lay in a stock. 

An equally important reason for visiting this 
neighborhood is the Church of St. Eustache — a 
*^vision never likely to be forgotten," as one writer 
on Paris says, and certainly there is but one St. Eus- 
tache in the world, as many have remarked when 
first beholding it. St. Eustache, or Eustace, is the 
Saint who, as a Roman soldier, saw a vision of Christ 
between the horns of the stag that he was hunting, 
and so was converted to the faith. St. Eustache, 
with its wonderful pillars — it is the largest church 
in Paris after the Cathedral — and the swell of its 
mighty organ tones, is surely calculated to arouse de- 
votion where none existed before, for its very pillars 
seem to soar into infinitude. It was begun in 1532, 
but not consecrated until 1637, and its particular 
fascination doubtless arises from the extraordinary 
and vigorous combination of the Gothic and Renais- 
sance styles. An earlier church on the spot was dedi- 
cated to St. Agnes, and her tradition haunts the 
place. Note the enormous size of the interior and 
its perfect proportions. Note also that this is the 
great musical church of Paris, and that there is a 
chapel to St. Cecilia, the patroness of music and the 
inventress of the organ. There is a statue to Pope 
Alexander I, who first sanctioned the use of holy 

114 



THE STOMACH OF PARIS 

water; look at tie Baffled demons on the base of the 
statue, fleeing from the holy water/ 

In the neighboring Rue de la Ferronerie it is in- 
teresting to notice a tablet recording that in this 
street Henri IV was assassinated by Ravaillac. The 
Rue Quincampoix is a very old street, in which Law,' 
the Controller-General of Finance, though a Scots- 
man, in the eighteenth century established his bank 
and promoted his company of the Indies, which 
ruined so many. 

Let us cross the Rue Jean Jacques Rousseau to 
the Rue Etienne Marcel. iNear to the little Rue 
Frangaise there are some iron railings, behind which 
is a grim rectangular tower. This tower is known 
as the Tour ds Jean-sans-Peur (Tower of Fearless 
John). It is all that remains of the famous Hotel 
do Bourgogne, built in the thirteenth century, this 
fearless John having added his tower in 1405. A 
fortress in the first place, in the game of rivalry be- 
tween the Dukes of Burgundy and Orleans, the Ho- 

* An excellent guide for those who wish to study the Paria 
churches in detail is the charming book of Mrs. Sophia Beale, 
The Churches of Paris. She gives exact architectural de- 
scriptions, and tells us all the histories of the churches and all 
the legends of the Saints (as, for example, at St. Eustache, the 
legends of the hunter saint, and the maiden St. Agnes). Grant 
Allen's book on t'aris devotes long and loving details to the 
])icture galleries, particularly the Louvre, but as to many other 
points he says, "You will get all you want from Baedecker" — 
wliich, of course, is no longer the case, if. indeed, it ever was. 
The serious student of the antiquities of Paris can be recom- 
mended to the books of M. Georges Cain, of which there is a 
longish series, as also to the works of Rochegude, Robida and 
others. But the history of Paris is contained in many books, 
from Michelet and Carlyle to Victor Hugo and Huysmans. 

115 



PKESENT DAY PARIS 

tel de Bourgogne afterwards became a theater of 
Passion plays, and then of "profane" plays. Some 
of Corneille's and Eacine's masterpieces were pro- 
duced here. 

Let us now follow the Rue Etienne Marcel, on 
the right from the old tower, till we come to the Rue 
du Montorgueil. Look for ISTo. 72 or No. 64. Both 
will lead to the same old courtyard — that of the 
once celebrated inn of the "Compas d'Or." For 
nearly four centuries this has been an inn, though 
now fallen from its high estate, and the vast timber- 
shed was a shelter for coaches. There is a haunting 
charm about the old place, as with a little imagina- 
tion and some knowledge of Victor Hugo and Du- 
mas one can evoke a picture of the fussy departure 
of the team of Normandy horses over the rutty 
roads of eighteenth century France, or their clat- 
tering and no less fussy arrival in the dark hours 
of a winter's morning. 

From the Rue du Montorgueil we pass through 
the curiously named Rue des Petits-Carreaux, to the 
Rue Reaumur. Turning to the right, we come oppo- 
site to a narrow little passage which leads into a 
courtyard called the "Cour des Miracles" — a no 
man's land of ages ago. Victor Hugo, in his Notre 
Dame de Paris describes it in the middle ages as 
a noisome lair of mendicants and rogues — a haunt of 
debauchery and vagabondage, where cripples were 
"manufactured" for begging purposes and "coups" 
were planned on the peaceful inhabitants of Paris. 

116 



THE STOMACH OF PARIS 

In those times it was a somewhat secluded spot, not 
as now in the center of a busy industrial quarter, 
and it was the scene of orgies of the worst descrip- 
tion. ISTot until the eighteenth century was this 
plague spot eradicated. 

Issuing through the Kue Damiette and the Place 
and Eue du Caire, we come to the fine broad Boule- 
vard du Sebastopol. In front are the Gaiete Thea- 
tre and the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers (Con- 
servatory of Arts and Crafts). Entering the court- 
yard we shall see a remarkable Gothic building, 
which was once the refectory of the monks of St. 
Martin-des-Champs, now used as a public library 
and reading room. The Monastery was suppressed 
at the Revolution, and has been turned into this in- 
stitution for technical education. An interesting 
museum of technical appliances, models, minerals, 
fabrics and relics is contained in this building, 
which is also the patents office. Close by here, at 
the comer of the Eue Reaumur, is another fine 
church — St. ]^icolas-des-Champs (note how the 
population in olden days always distinguished be- 
tween their monuments in town and those outside). 
The church dates from 1420, but it was enlarged in 
the sixteenth century. 

Let us turn back down the Rue St. Denis and fol- 
low it until we come to the Square des Innocents, 
recognized by its well-known fountain, three sides 
of which are embellished by that great sculptor, Jean 
de Goujon. The fountain once stood against the 

117 



PKESENT DAY PAEIS 

ChurcH of tlie Innocents, wliicK was demolished in 
the eighteenth century; hence only three of the 
sides are decorated by Gonjon, another sculptor hav- 
ing been found to finish the work when the struc- 
ture was moved here. The square of the Innocents 
was once the cemetery in which for some six hun- 
dred years the population of Paris was buried. The 
bodies of the poor were put together in enormous 
subterranean pits. "Each pit," writes M. Georges 
Cain, "would contain as many as fifteen hundred 
bodies." They were reached by deep shafts, closed 
by planks. Two or three of such pits were always 
open. The good La Fontaine was buried here on 
Thursday, April 14, 1695. It was only in 1780 
that the place was closed for burials, in consequence 
of the danger to public health. Some of the old 
shops on the south side of the square are the ancient 
charnel houses, and there are some gruesome stories 
told of this old place. The bones removed from the 
cemetery were taken away and placed in some dis- 
used quarries on the other side of the river, thus 
forming what is known as the catacombs. 

But we have come back to where we started — to 
the center of the bustle and activity. 



CHAPTER XII 

PARIS IN DANGER 

Paeis was twice menaced by the invaders during 
the war — in 1914 and 1918, and both times the 
city was saved throngh the stand made by the Allied 
troops in and around the Marne. In September, 
1914, the Germans had reached Senlis and Chan- 
tilly — at the gates of Paris. They were dropping 
leaflets from Taube aeroplanes announcing that 
Paris would soon be taken. They were also dropping 
bombs — small, \'icious little bombs, which were not 
so murderous as those that followed, but which nev- 
ertheless did great damage, injuring children and 
others. There was very little resistance to them in 
those days, and people sitting in the cafes or walk- 
ing about the boulevards on those summer evenings 
could watch them flying over the city and wonder 
when the gray-coated legions of the barbaric Kaiser 
would bo in the capital. 

Defenses were put up at the gates of Paris and 
around the fortifications, but we learned almost im- 
mediately afterwards, from the experiences of Ant- 
werp, Liege and Maubeuge, that they would have 
been of very little avail against the terrible artillery 
that the Germans were using. 

119 



PEESENT DAY PAKIS 

People began to leave Paris in hundreds of thou- 
sands, passing days in the train, or in any convey- 
ance they oould find — or even on foot — pouring to 
the south, the southwest, or to England and America. 
But other thousands came into the city — refugees 
and others (though most of these were sent to other 
parts of the country), so greatly increasing the diffi- 
culties of transport at a time when most of the trains 
and roads were encumbered with the movements of 
the military. 

It took days sometimes before people could find 
room in the trains, and the stations and offices were 
besieged by eager excited crowds demanding help, 
information or privileges. The foreign consuls and 
embassies were also thronged with those asking for 
protection, for help to get out of the country, and 
so on. Ambassador Herrick, who had turned his 
home in the Rue Frangois-Premier into a depot of 
the American Clearing House, was a very pillar of 
strength and comfort for his fellow countrymen and 
women. He advised all who could and had nothing 
particularly to do here to leave France; for those 
who had to remain he had posters printed in French 
and German to affix on the premises of neutrals. 

The Government and the Presidency left Paris 
for Bordeaux, which was to be the capital of the 
Bepublic, as it had been in 1870-1871. The great 
offices of State, Parliament, the Embassies and consu- 
lates of belligerents, banks and other important es- 
tablishments all went to the second city in France. 

120 



PARIS IN DANGER 

Paris was now an "entrenched camp," under the 
Military Governor, in whom all power was vested, 
and was to he defended against the invader. Tho 
President and Government issued proclamations to 
the inhabitants before leaving. 

The rush out of the city became a stampede. Peo- 
ple fought not only for places in the trains but for 
places in the long lines waiting at the ticket offices. 
Porters were not available, cabs and "taxis" were 
rare indeed, and whole families had to carry their 
own baggage long distances to the stations. Escape 
by private cars was stopped by the military authori- 
ties ; the cars were wanted for other purposes. Trav- 
eling was terrible. It took twenty-four hours to 
make the journey to Bordeaux, which in normal 
times was done in seven. Those who went farther 
south spent days in the train. People died in the 
trains — children and the old or weak — through sus- 
pense, fright or fatigue. Refugees and members of 
big families sometimes lost each other, and it took 
months of work on the part of big organizations to 
bring them together again. 

But, on the other hand, never was food so plenti- 
ful, cheap or good as in those days. The population 
of Paris being gone, and transport difficult, or prac- 
tically impossible, the country people in the north- 
east hurried their produce to market ; delicious fruit 
was not kept back, as often happens, and poultry 
were killed off when young and succulent to avoid 
their falling into the hands of the advancing armies. 

121 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

All fashionable Paris, as well as all official Paris, 
was at Bordeaux. Never was there such an extraor- 
dinary provincial city as Bordeaux was that autumn. 
The capital was wonderfully quiet, more than two 
thirds of its ordinary inhabitants having left, as 
well as foreigners and the extra population brought 
by the war. Cafes and shops were closed by the 
hundreds. For those who remained behind whole 
quarters of Paris were like a city of the dead. 

Still, the enemy did not reach Paris. The great 
city was saved almost by a miracle — the miracle of 
the Battle of the Marne, organized by JofFre and Gal- 
lieni, the famous Military Governor of Paris, who 
invented the remarkable expedient of rushing re- 
enforcements up to the front in Paris taxicabs. The 
Battle of the Marne was won by the French, aided 
by the British, It should logically have been the 
end of the war, for the Germans were beaten on the 
Marne, and their chances were never again as good 
as in that first iiish. 

Four years passed — four years of battling and 
bloodshed, and history repeated itself. It was the 
summer of 1918. During these four years the capi- 
tal had been the chief object of the enemy's thrusts, 
but she had not again been seriously menaced. In 
the summer of 1918 the Germans made another su- 
preme effort. 

For months Paris had been bombarded — during 
the day by the long-range guns; at night by Gothas 
and other murderous aeroplanes, which drove Paris 

122 



PAEIS m DANGER 

to the cellars. Mucli damage was wrought and war 
insurance companies were doing big business. The 
city was greatly damaged during that spring and 
autumn. One shudders to think what might have 
happened had the enemy been able to get nearer and 
make even more determined attacks on the city, as 
they threatened to do. As it was, shells and bombs 
fell in the very heart of Paris — there was not a 
quarter and scarcely a street that escaped. 

Then the great German offensive began — the of- 
fensive of despair, that was to be their last effort. 
To those in the city the enemy seemed as formidable 
as ever. Every one knew what they had done and 
could still do. At any rate, they were again rush- 
ing on to the capital, and towns which had been re- 
captured had again fallen to the tenemy. Once 
more the capital was in great danger, and once more 
it began to empty. 

Still Paris was pretty full on the fourteenth of 
July, when there was a wonderful procession of 
Erench and Allied troops through the streets of the 
city — men who had come from the battles that were 
raging so near — and were going back to them. 

In those July days the guns could be heard again 
growling, roaring, echoing all through the night — 
several nights, as they had done in 1914. One night 
the guns were louder than ever, and one or two days 
of suspense followed, as one waited for what was 
going to happen. 

This was the offensive of Marshal Foch, which 
123 



PEESENT DAY PAEIS 

lasted for some anxious weeks. Paris was confident, 
and at last the victory came, and Paris smiled again. 

On the eleventh of November, 1918, the guns from 
the forts announced the signing of the armistice, 
which was the \'irtual peace. "Issue from your 
proud reserve, citizens of Paris," said a manifesto 
of the Paris municipality, "and come into the streets 
to rejoice." 

For months after that the Champs Elysees and 
the Place de la Concorde were lined with captured 
German guns, tanks, and aeroplanes. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE PAEIS HOMES OF FAMOUS AMERICANS 

A FEW lines about the former homes of famous 
Americans will aid the tripper in his sight-seeing 
in the citj. 

Thomas Jefferson, who left Boston for Paris in 
July, 1Y84, took apartments in what was then called 
the Cul-de-Sac Tetebout, now the Rue Taitbout, off 
the Boulevard des Italiens. His home became the 
resort of French officers who had fought in the 
American Revolution. 

Benjamin Franklin first stayed at the Hotel Ham- 
bourg, in the Rue de I'Universite. Later he removed 
to the Rue Grande Verte, now Rue de Penthievre, 
off Faubourg St. Honore. From 1777 to 1785 he 
resided at the corner of the Rue Singer and Rue 
Raynouard, Passy. The house is now a school, and 
there is a tablet on the wall to record the philoso- 
pher's connection with it. 

General Lafayette died in 1834 at a house which 
is now No. 8 Rue d'Anjou (see tablet on wall). He 
lies buried in Picpus Cemetery. 

Paul Jones lived in the Rue Vivienne, where Jef- 
ferson, when Minister to France, visited him. Later 

125 



PKESENT DAY PARIS 

he lived at l^o. 40 Rue de Tournon, near the Luxem- 
bourg. The house (No. 19) still stands. 

Count Rumford spent the last ten years of his 
life at Auteuil — !N"o. 59 Rue d'Auteuil, which he 
bought from Mme. Helvetius, the friend and fre- 
quent hostess of Dr. Franklin. He died there in 
August, 1814. 

Longfellow, during his stay in Paris as a student, 
lived at No. 49 Rue Monsieur-le-Prince, in the Latin 
Quarter. He spent a month at Auteuil. 

"William Morris Hunt, the painter had a studio at 
"No. 3 Rue Pigalle, Montmartre, in the "fifties." 

Margaret Puller stayed at the Hotel Rougemont, 
Boulevard Poissonniere. 

Augustus Saint-Gaudens had a studio in the Fau- 
bourg St. Honore, and lived in the Boulevard Pe- 
reire. In 1897 he had a studio at No. 3 Rue de Bag- 
neux. 

John Howard Payne wrote "Home, Sweet Home," 
at No. 156 Galerie des Bons-Enfants, Palais Royal, 
in 1823. He also lived at No. 89 Rue Richelieu. 

James McNeil Whistler had a studio at Rue 
Notre Dame des Champs; later (1861-1862) on the 
Boulevard des Batignolles. In 1892 he settled at 
No. 110 Rue du Bac. 

Dr. Evans's house, to which the fugitive Empress 
Eugenie went, was at the corner of the Bois de Bou- 
logne and Avenue Malakoff; it no longer exists. 

President and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, during their 
stay in Paris for the sittings of the Peace Commis- 

126 



PARIS HOMES OF FAMOUS AMERICANS 

sion, occupied Prince Murat's house, placed at their 
disposal by the French Government, in the Rue 
Monceau, opposite the gate of tlie Park. On their 
return, after a visit home, they occupied the house 
of the well-known dramatist, Francis de Croisset, No. 
11 Place des Etats-Unis. The Hotel Crillon, Place 
de la Concorde, was the headquarters of the Ameri- 
can Peace delegation. At No. 78 Rue de I'Universite 
the many conferences took place between Colonel 
House, Mr. Lloyd George and M. Clemenceau. 

General Pershing's headquarters were for a time 
at No. 45 Avenue Montaigne; his private residence 
was at Cours-la-Reine. 



CHAPTER XIV 

PARIS BEYOND THE WALLS 

Theee are many delightful excursions at a little 
distance from Paris, but within easy reach by train, 
tramway or other means. 

ViNCENNEs can be reached by train from the 
Place de la Bastille or by tramway from the Louvre. 
It is the most popular park near Paris after the 
Bois de Boulogne, being easy of access for the large 
working class population living on this side of the 
city. The park has twenty-three hundred acres. In 
the thirteenth century it was a wild forest, used by 
Louis IX and his favorites for hunting. The race 
course near the Bois is the largest in the Paris re- 
gion. The chateau, which in the twelfth century 
was a royal residence, is now an artillery depot, and 
in its courtyard military executions still take place. 
The Due d'Enghien was executed there in 1804. 

La Malmaison can best be reached by the tram- 
way from the Porte Maillot to St. Germain, which 
stops at Reuil or Malmaison. The charming little 
chateau of La Malmaison was the favorite residence 
of Napoleon. Josephine resided here after her di- 
vorce until her death in 1814. Napoleon made it his 

128 



PARIS BEYOND THE WALLS 

headquarters for a short while after the Battle of 
Waterloo, but left it on the approach of the Prussian 
troops. The chateau was bought by a wealthy con- 
noisseur, M. Osiris, who installed the ISTapoleonic 
Museum, and presented some years ago to the nation, 
and an attempt has been made to restore the in- 
terior to the condition in which it was when the poor 
fallen Empress lived there. Many relics which had 
left the country have been brought back, and there 
is a pleasant day in store for the admirer of Napo- 
leon who can spare time to visit it, or even for the 
mere lover of the atmosphere of a dignified and pic- 
turesque past. Josephine lies in the neighboring 
church of Eueil, with her daughter, Queen Hor- 
tense, mother of Napoleon IIL 

Maelt-le-roi, further on the same line (about 
sixteen miles from Paris) , on an elevated position on 
the south bank of the Seine, is an old royal resi- 
dence, Louis XIV having had a chateau here which 
was destroyed in the Revolution. The ruins and 
the park are interesting, as is the huge "Abreuvoir," 
or watering-place for the horses. There are fine 
walks in the forest. This is now the shooting pre- 
serves of the President of the Republic. Near by is 
the aqueduct built under Louis XIV to convey to 
Versailles the water raised by the hydraulic machine 
at Marly. 

St. Denis should certainly be seen. Formerly the 
burial place of the Kings of France, it is now a 
busy manufacturing suburb five miles from Paris. 

129 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

(Take train from the Gare du ISTord. The tramways 
from Trinity Church or the Madeleine are conveni- 
ent, but take a long time.) 

The Cathedral is the great object of interest. In 
275 A. D. a chapel is supposed to have been erected 
here over the grave of St. Dionysius or St. Denis, 
the first Bishop of Paris. There was a basilica on 
the spot in the seventh century, which was replaced 
in 1140 by the present Cathedral, which was re- 
stored in 1230 in the pure Gothic style. Almost 
entirely ruined during the Revolution, it was again 
restored by that restorer-at-large of medieval art, 
Viollet-le-Duc. 

The Westminster Abbey of France, probably no 
spot contains so many souvenirs of royalty and chiv- 
alry. In the twelfth century Louis VI hung up his 
oriflamme banner, the standard of St. Denis; in the 
fifteenth century Joan of Arc hung her banner in the 
Cathedral. Henri IV adjured Protestantism, and 
!N^apoleon and Marie Louise were married at St. 
Denis. During the Revolution the wall of the crypt 
was broken down, and the remains of the kings, 
from Dagobert to Louis XV (covering a period of 
eleven centuries) were taken out and thrown into a 
pit dug near by. The remains were replaced by 
Louis XVIII in 1817, and the remains of Louis 
XVI and Marie Antoinette were also transferred 
hither from the Madeleine Cemetery. Much has 
been done by devoted antiquarians to restore the 
Cathedral and the tombs to what they once were, and 

130 



PARIS BEYOND THE WALLS 

it is a wonderful object lesson in Erencli history, as 
well as ecclesiastical history. There are tombs of 
Dagobert I (died C),'38), the founder of the Abbey, 
whose soul, as the legend pictured on his tomb re- 
lates, was stolen by demons and afterwards rescued 
by St. Denis (the tomb was probably erected as a 
sort of shrine by St. Louis) ; of Louis XII and his 
spouse; of Henri II and his Queen, Catherine do 
Medici; of Queen Fredegonde, of the children of 
St. Louis, and a very elaborate one of Francis I, 
that magnificent Monarch of the Field of the Cloth 
of Gold, who brought the Renaissance from Italy. 

During the war St. Denis was a center of war 
manufactures, guns, ammunition, cars and tanks 
being made here. Consequently it suffered severely 
at the hands of the enemy both from air raids and 
the long-range gun. 

St. Cloud is a beautiful suburb to the west of 
Paris, overlooking the Seine and the Bois de Bou- 
logne. ( Trains from St. Lazare station ; trams from 
the Louvre or the Porte Maillot.) A palace erected 
here in 1572 was bought by Louis XIV and rebuilt. 
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette inhabited it, and 
in one of the rooms Napoleon proclaimed himself 
First Consul, after dispersing the assembly of five 
hundred. Bliicher established his headquarters at 
St, Cloud in 1815, and the capitulation of Paris was 
signed here. Later it was the residence of Napoleon 
III. During the War of 1870-18Y1 after being bom- 
barded from Mont Valcrien, St. Cloud was occupied 

131 



prese:^tt day paeis 

by the Prussians, the chateau, barracks, and part of 
the town having been burned down in October, 1870. 
The fine old park is now one of the favorite holiday 
resorts of Parisians ; it contains nearly one thousand 
acres. From the top of the plateau, called the ''Lan- 
terne," there is a magnificent panoramic view of 
Paris, and the fountains which play on two Sundays 
per month in summer, are a great attraction. 

One of the pleasantest ways of coming down here 
used to be by the little boats ("bateaux mouches") 
on the Seine, but at the time of writing this service 
has for some time been suspended. 

A charming walk through St. Cloud park takes 
one to Sevees^ at the entrance to the park. Here is 
the celebrated porcelain manufactory. It has been 
Government property since 1759, when it was pur- 
chased to encourage ceramic art in France. The 
museum contains a fine collection of Medieval and 
Renaissance porcelain, works by Palissy, the great 
potter, and Italian and Oriental ware. 

Maisons-Laffitte (about ten miles from Paris) 
is a favorite summer residence of Parisians. The 
seventeenth century chateau was once the property 
of Comte d'Artois (Charles X) ; the property of 
the State, it is now a museum of decorative art. The 
former grounds are cut up into summer villas for 
Parisians. Near the Seine is the race course, where 
many important flat races are held. There is an im- 
portant horse-training center, with quite an Anglo- 
American colony. 

132 



PAKIS BEYOND THE WALLS 

St. Geemain-en-Laye, a royal borough, -where a 
royal palace has existed from very early times. The 
chapel and chateau were originally built by Louis, 
son of Charlemagne. Francis I rebuilt and en- 
larged the chateau. Louis XIV was born here 
(1638), and another reason for the little town's 
having a sense of pride is the fact that Alexandre 
Dumas wrote the Three Musketeers here at the Hotel 
of the Pavilion Henri IV, on the edge of the cliff 
(all that remains of Henri II's chateau). The Mu- 
seum in the palace contains a very valuable pre- 
historic and archaeological collection. 

When James II of England was exiled, Louis 
XIV, who had removed the Court to Versailles, gave 
the St. Germain Palace to the English King, and he 
died there in 1701 and was buried in the church 
(step in and see the tomb, erected by George IV). 

Napoleon established a school of cavalry here, 
which is now the museum. St. Germain is particu- 
larly favored as a holiday resort by Parisians on ac- 
count of the famous terrace, with a view extending 
across many miles, and the forest, extending to the 
quaint little town of Poissy, where St. Louis was 
born in 1226. 

Versailles is reached by trains from the stations 
of St. Lazare or the Invalidos; by trams from the 
Lou\Te or the Place de la Concorde. Motors usually 
go through the park of St. Cloud, and it is an agree- 
able drive. 

Versailles and its wonderful park constitute the 
133 



PRESENT DAY PAEIS 

most splendid ex-royal residence in tlie world. 
There had been a hunting lodge here used by Louis 
XIII. This Palace had much to do with the out- 
break of the Revolution; or at any rate, if nothing 
could have prevented that cataclysm, the extrava- 
gance of the Court, leading to onerous taxation, 
heaped the fuel on the fire which finally led to the 
conflagration. Built and first inhabited by the Roi 
Soleil ("the Sun King"), its historic associations 
cover a period of over two hundred and twenty-five 
years. Over 1,000,000,000 francs are said to have 
been spent on the construction of the Palace and 
park, to say nothing of its upkeep, while thirty thou- 
sand men and sixty thousand horses were engaged 
in leveling the terraces of the garden and making a 
road to Paris. The Palace was made the perma- 
nent residence of the Court by Louis XIV in 1682 
— it had up till then been at St. Germain. It sup- 
ported the magnificence of the Pompadours and Du- 
barrys and their satellites for a century. One fine 
day the Palace was wrecked by the market women 
of Paris, and Royalty left it in haste. ISTapoleon I 
found it too expensive to repair, but Louis Philippe 
restored the building and founded the historical pic- 
ture gallery and museum, the idea being that it 
should be a collection illustrative of the "glories of 
Prance." That Monarch spent a further 15,000,000 
francs on the scheme. 

In 1870 it was the headquarters of the Prussians 
(who used part of it as a hospital), and William I 

134 



PARIS BEYOND THE WALLS 

was proclaimed here Emperor of Germany. The 
surrender of Paris was arranged at the Chateau, 
and the Government kept its headquarters here until 
1879. In one of the great halls the National Assem- 
bly, consisting of members of the Chamber of Depu- 
ties and the Senate, meet to elect the President of 
the Republic. 

In 1783 was signed at the Palace the Treaty ter- 
minating the American Revolution, while in 1919 
was signed between the Allies and the Germans the 
Treaty terminating the War of 1914-18, which — one 
hopes — swept the Hohenzollerns from the face of 
Europe and returned to France the two provinces of 
Alsace and Lorraine, which had been torn from her 
in 1871. It is not the least important event in the 
history of Versailles Palace. 

Versailles is in truth a wonderful museum of 
French history, more especially of the seventeenth 
and eighteenth centuries, though one must remem- 
ber that what it chiefly illustrates are the formalism 
and the artificiality of French court life — the age 
of artificial nature, formal art, and women given 
over to powder and patches and affectation. Those 
who visit the Palace in detail (and one ought 
to do so) will consult detailed guide books, and there 
is ample to see — the King's and Queen's apartments, 
where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette lived in 
their artificial splendor, whence later they cowered 
as they watched the growing rage of the Revolution- 
ary mob, and whence finally they were taken away 

135 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

bj the "Tricoteuses" ; the magnificent Galerie des 
Glaces, one of the finest rooms in existence (two hun- 
dred and forty feet long, having seventeen windows 
looking out on the garden), with ceilings painted by 
Lebrun illustrative of the victories of Louis XIV, 
which was once the ballroom; the hall, where there 
take place the meetings of the National Assembly, 
and many others, besides the splendid gardens, park 
and lakes which still exist as they were laid out by 
Lenotre/ The best view is obtained from the top of 
the terrace at the rear of the Palace. The playing 
of the fountains, which takes place only once a month 
in summer, is a gorgeous spectacle which attracts 
thousands of sight-seers. 

Magnificent as the Palace of Versailles is, and 
beautiful as is the park, one can have but a very 
faint conception of the splendor of the place under 
Louis XIV. Half the kingdom must have been in 
the service of the Royal family in some capacity or 
other. In the "Almanach Royal" nine hundred sec- 
retaries of the King were mentioned, and these 
gilded halls must have been a very hotbed of in- 
trigue. 

The etiquette that surrounded the Kings of 
France was something sacred and terrible, but also 
ridiculous and cruel. There was a different stand- 
ard of etiquette for each one of the royal residences 

^ M. de Nolhac, for many yeara the curator of Versailles, i» 
also one of the most learned and gifted historians of the 
Palace and its epoch. 

136 



PAEIS BEYOND THE WALLS 

— Marly, Triauon, Compiegue; at Versailles it was 
more formidable tliau aii^^vhere else. All this cere- 
monial was set up by the nobility in order to insure 
tlioir own privileges and rights. Though the King 
might infringe the laws, he dared not disregard the 
etiquette to which he was a slave. One of the great- 
eat days in the life of the Due du Maine was when 
by royal decree he was accorded the privilege (in 
1723) of taking the royal shirt from the Grand 
Chamberlain at the royal levee and passing it to 
the King! This privilege was reserved for Princes 
of the blood royal. Marshal de Richelieu could 
hand a "robe de chambre" or hat. There was a 
whole ceremonial for the royal repasts, and it was 
a less serious matter that the King should go without 
his "bouillon" than that it should be served by some 
one who was not entitled to present it. When the 
country was sunk in misery and seething with revo- 
lution, poor foolish Louis asked his counselors if 
nothing could be done, and they told him nothing 
mattered except his Majesty's importance and com- 
fort. 

Xorth of the Grand Canal is an enclosure contain- 
ing the Grand Trianon and the Petit Trianon. 

The pretty villa known as the Grand Trianon was 
built by order of Louis XIV for Mme. de Maintc- 
non. Mansart, the great architect, was the author 
of this as of the Palace and Chapel of Versailles, the 
dome of the Invalides and other great buildings. 
The Grand Trianon contains some interesting curi- 

137 



PEESENT DAY PARIS 

osities, and in a building beside it is a collection of 
State vehicles and saddlery, for those who are inter- 
ested in such things. The Petit Trianon was built 
for Mme. du Barry by the architect of Louis XV. 
It seemed a long way in those days from the Tria- 
nons to the guillotine on the Place Concorde ! Marie 
Antoinette afterwards occupied the Petit Trianon 
and had the gardens laid out in English style with 
an artificial lake. The "Hameau," close by, is a 
collection of small rustic cottages which Marie An- 
toinette had built as a plaything, and here she and 
her ladies and gallants prettily played at being peas- 
ants and milkmaids (in powder and patches). It 
was another version of the fiddling of Nero ! 

Plenty of time, it will be seen, must be given, to 
the visit to Versailles. 

FoNTAiNEBLEAu coustitutes One of the most inter- 
esting excursions out of Paris (about thirty-seven 
miles, from Gare de Lyon). The forest of Fon- 
tainebleau is one of the finest and largest in France, 
being nearly fifty miles in circumference. It has 
always been a haunt of painters, some of whom are 
famous in French art. The village of Barbizon in 
the forest has been a home of artists since the days 
of Millet, Rousseau, and others, who made it famous, 
but there are many other homes of artists, French 
and foreign, in the small villages around the forest. 

The Palace of Fontainebleau is chiefly associated 
with the name of Francis I and what he did for 
French art. Though it was a fort as far back as 

138 



PARIS BEYOXD THE WALLS 

the twelfth centurv', Francis built most of the pres- 
ent edifice, Henri IV adding a certain portion. 
Fontainebleau was the favorite summer residence of 
Napoleon, and a number of outstanding royal events 
have taken place here — Louis XIII was born, Louis 
XV married, Napoleon III baptized, and the Due 
d'Orleans married in 1837. The visitor is shown the 
hall where Napoleon wrote his abdication before 
leaving for Elba and the Cour des Adieux, where he 
bade farewell to the Grenadier Guards before leav- 
ing. On the same spot, eleven months later, he re- 
viewed the same troops, after his escape and before 
marching on to Paris. One also sees the apartments 
of Mme. de Maintenon, Marie Antoinette, Catherine 
de Medici, Anne of Austria and Pope Pius VII, 
occupied by him when he was a prisoner in France. 
The revocation of the Edict of Nantes was signed 
here, as was the decree of the Empress Josephine's 
divorce. There are wonderful treasures in Gobelini 
tapestry, Sevres porcelain, and other works of art. 
There is a good golf links at Fontainebleau. 

Chantilly, another charming little town and fa- 
vorite resort of the Parisians, played a certain role 
during the war. The Germans entered Chantilly on 
September 3, 1914, and occupied it for several days. 
The troops were garrisoned in the larger chateau and 
the officers in the smaller, but they did no damage. 
All the treasures had already been moved to a place 
of safety. The mayor was arrested as a hostage, but 
was unharmed. After the Battle of the Marne, Gen- 

139 



PRESEXT DAY PAEIS 

eral (now Marshal) Joffre, Generalissimo of the 
Forces, made his headquarters at Chantilly. He 
occupied a house on the Boulevard d'Aumale, while 
the huge staff was quartered in the Hotel du Grand- 
Conde. Chantilly remained the headquarters of the 
Grand Staff until 1916, and reviews and military 
parade took place on the race course. 

Chantilly is twenty-five miles from Paris on the 
ITorthem Railway (Gare du N^ord). It is an im- 
portant racing center, and the best training quar- 
ters in France, there being quite an English colony 
engaged in training. The French "Oaks" and the 
Prix du Jockey Club are run here. There is an 
eighteen-hole golf course near the town. 

Chantilly was famous in the seventeenth and 
eighteenth centuries as the residence of the Conde 
family. The monumental stables of the Condes, 
close to the Chateau, had accommodation for two 
hundred and sixty horses. 

The Chateau was at the end of the eighteenth cen- 
tury one of the most beautiful in Europe, but it was 
destroyed during the Revolution. The present Cha- 
teau was built by the Due d'Aumale, son of King 
Louis Philippe (1876-1882), after his return from 
exile ; upon his death he bequeathed it to the French 
nation, it being placed in trust with the Institut de 
France along with the magnificent artistic and his- 
torical collections, which he had begim during his 
exile in England from 1848 to 1871. This collec- 
tion includes the exquisite "Orleans Virgin" of Ra- 

i40 



PARIS BEYOND THE WALLS 

phael and "The Three Graces," a panel of Raphael, 
and forty priceless miniatures of the "Hours" hy 
the great French master, Jehan Fouguet. The small 
Pavilion d'Enghien was built by the Condes for their 
guests, being named after the young Duke d'Enghien, 
who was bom here (and was afterwards shot by Na- 
poleon in 1804). The park was laid out by Lenotre 
in the same style as the gardens of Versailles; the 
forest covers over six thousand acres. 



CHAPTER XV 

EXCURSIONS TO THE BATTLEFIELDS 

The Frencli and Belgian battlefields of the Great 
War are in most cases easily visited from Paris. A 
good deal can be seen in one day, by leaving Paris 
in the morning and returning in the evening. In 
other cases, it is advisable, for various reasons, to 
spend a night away and go to particular regions the 
next day. These excursions can be made by motor- 
car, or by train, but the train is still usually the 
most convenient method, on account of the bad roads. 
The hotel accommodation in the devastated regions 
is still not very high-class, though excellent meals 
on French lines can be had nearly everywhere. 

The tourist agencies have mapped out the devas- 
tated regions to correspond with the different battle- 
fields and to enable tourists to see the utmost in the 
minimum of time and with the least inconvenience. 
Visitors cannot do better, in most cases, than follow 
the plan of their tours. The ISTorthem and Eastern 
of France Railways also run excursions to the prin- 
cipal centers, enabling visitors to see the chief cities 
which were in the "melee" and the battlefields 
around them. 

Chateau-Thieeby is on the East of France Rail- 
142 



excursioj^s to the battlefields 

way (Garo de I'Est), via Meaux, and the scenes of 
the first Battle of the Marne. Chateau-Thierry and 
Belleau Wood can easily be visited in one day and 
a return to Paris be made by dinner-time. Lunch- 
eon is taken at Chateau-Thierry, after which the 
Wood is visited by motor-car or omnibus. 

Chateau-Thierry is a little town on the Marne 
(about eight thousand inhabitants in 1914), which 
has always been a kind of citadel on the road to 
Paris, protecting it. There is a ruined chateau, 
which is supposed to have been originally built for 
Charles Martel. The town is especially famous as 
the birthplace of La Fontaine, the famous writer of 
fables. His house, which still stands and was a li- 
brary and museum, was used as a dugout by the Ger- 
man officers. The chief square at Chateau-Thierry 
is now known as the Place des Etats-Unis, in honor 
of the great stand made by the Americans. 

It was at the end of May and in the first days 
of June, 1918, that the American machine-gunners 
made their great stand in the streets of Chateau- 
Thierry, which was the center of a great battle. The 
German offensive had bejrun a few days before the 
end of May, had easily smashed through the thinly 
held line, and was pushing forward (for the second 
time) for the Marne. Then the Americans made 
their dramatic entry into the war, the Second and 
Third Divisions being sent forward to help, ill- 
trained and ill-equipped though they were. The two 
bridges of Chateau-Thierry were for four days and 

143 



PKESENT DAY PARIS 

nights raked hj fire from seventeen machine guns 
in the doors and windows of a row of houses on the 
river bank. One of the bridges was completely de- 
molished, being blown up as a party of Germans, 
who had pushed forward, had reached the middle 
of it. The American gunners made a methodical 
retreat and installed themselves on the other side of 
the Marne in positions which enabled them to sup- 
port the French Colonial troops as they fell back. 
West of Chateau-Thierry is a little village, Vaux, 
about two miles o:ff, which, when the Germans were 
in possession, was torn to pieces by American shells. 
A short distance away is Belleau Woods, en route 
to which is a Targe American cemetery, and the de- 
stroyed villages of St. Martin and Vincelles. Bel- 
leau Wood has been called the Wood of the American 
Marine Brigade. All through June the marines 
fought savagely for its possession. Belleau Wood is 
blackened and broken, but there is less evidence of 
the struggle here than there is in many other woods 
on the front. 

The Third American Division followed the enemy 
as far as Cierges after he had been pushed back by 
Foch's offensive. The Second Division fought for 
over twenty-four hours in July between Soissons and 
Chateau-Thierry. 

Meaux, about eighty miles from Paris, and half- 
way between the capital and Chateau-Thierry, is the 
center of the famous Battle of the Marne. It was 
occupied by invading armies in 1814 and again in 

144 



EXCURSIONS TO TUE BATTLEFIELDS 

1870. In 1914 German patrols went through it, but 
hud not much time to do great damage. The retreat- 
ing British troops on September 2 and September 3 
blew up the bridge ("Le Pout du Marche") and sank 
the floating baths. The Battle of the Marne of Sep- 
tember, 1914, has been celebrated every year since 
by a sort of official pilgrimage to Meaux, the ceme- 
tery of Chambry and the battlefield. 

The Battle of the Marne began on September 5, 
when General Joffre considered the moment had ar- 
rived to carry out a maneuver he had been planning 
since the first check to the French, to make a counter 
offensive, and push the Germans back over a lino 
stretching for one hundred and twenty-five miles, 
from Clermont, northwest of Senlis, to Chalons, Ste. 
Menehould and nearly to Verdun. Patrols of the 
German army were in these days seen eight miles 
from the gates of Paris. On September 3, the 
German right wing began to move in a southeasterly 
direction, and tlie army of Yon Kluck passed the 
Marne between Chateau-Thierry and Meaux. The 
left wing of the main French army, which had fallen 
back on the east of Paris, was held by the British, 
and between it and the falaise of Champagne was 
the Fifth French army. 

So on September 5, the Sixth French army of Gen- 
eral !Maunoury, which had been protecting Paris, 
began to cross the Ourcq behind Von Kluck's army, 
on a front running north and south, instead of east 
to west The right of this Sixth Army fell on the 

145 



PKESENT DAY PAKIS 

•enemy's Fourth Reserve Corps a little to the north of 
Meux. The German general saw the danger, and 
instead of continuing to the southeast, he turned the 
greater portion of his forces around and recrossed 
the Mame and the Ourcq^ so that the objectives 
planned for the Sixth French army were not at- 
tained. The left wing of this army was attacked hj 
Von Kluck's troops, and it was to them that the re- 
enforcements were rushed from Paris in motor-cabs. 
The French and British (who were fighting in the 
Wood of Meaux) suffered a great deal on September 
€ and 7 from the heavy German artillery, which 
they had then nothing to match in power and range. 
The French advance was resisted by big German re- 
enforcements, although the next day a whole fresh 
division was sent to their aid, part going again by 
"taxi" and the rest by rail, the artillery going by 
road. The British troops crossed the Mame on the 
ninth, threatening the enemy forces opposed to the 
Sixth French army on their flank. This was the 
culminating point of the fight, and the Germans 
ceased to fight and began to retire. On the tenth the 
whole German army started a retreating movement 
to the north, thus preventing the "enveloping" move- 
ment that had been planned by Generals Joffre and 
Gallieni. Still the Allies' splendid generalship and 
the bravery of their troops had forced the Germans 
to a hasty retreat. The famous Paris mobile army 
had fulfilled its role by enabling the British army 
to make an offensive, which brought about the 

146 



EXCURSIONS TO THE BATTLEFIELDS 

irreater result. From this date imtil the thirteenth 
the Allies oontimied their pursuit of the enemy un- 
til the latter were able to entrench themselves in 
positions prepared in advance. 

Senlis is a pretty little Cathedral to\vn, which 
was used by the early Kings of France on account 
of the hunting in the neighborhood. This small 
town has had quite a stirring history. It was the 
scene of fierce fighting and terrible brutality in the 
struggles between Armagnacs and Burgundians early 
in the fifteenth century (terminated by the Treaty 
of Arras in 1435). It was taken by the English 
and retaken from them by Joan of Arc in 1420. 
Henri IV was the last King who lived at Senlis, his 
successors abandoning it for more imposing palaces. 

The handsome Gothic Cathedral was begun in 
1153 on the site of a former building which had 
existed since the third century. It was added to 
and altered in later centuries, having suffered from 
fire and other mishaps. The old Bishopric is built 
on the old Gallo-Roman walls (a portion of them 
being used in its construction) which in their prime 
had twenty-eight towers — a sign of the importance 
that Senlis possessed in those days. Senlis has, be- 
sides, a number of very interesting old churches, 
which are national monuments. 

The Germans entered Senlis on September 2, 
1914, after a preliminary bombardment, and im- 
mediately took possession of the town, which was 
greatly damaged, not only by the bombardment, but 

147 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

bj intentional incendiarism. The excesses commit- 
ted by tbe enemy at Senlis in these early days of 
the war did a great deal to set neutrals against them. 
Some twenty civilians were murdered in cold blood 
and without any cause. As they attacked the hos- 
pital, the Germans were met by a murderous fire 
from some Erench troops in trenches near by. In 
great fury they seized a number of civilians, made 
them go ahead to receive the fire, and they (the 
troops) followed, keeping close to the wall. Two 
ladies were thus wounded, two men killed, and two 
other men who were wounded were fired on by the 
Germans to finish them. The French troops, discov- 
ering what was happening, ceased firing, and the 
rest of the "hostages" fled to the French lines, fired 
on by the enemy. 

Another terrible tragedy in Senlis was the murder 
of the Mayor, M. Odent. He was arrested on some 
futile charge, and while he was being conveyed to 
the Hotel du Grand Cerf, where the invaders had 
their headquarters, firing broke out in the lower part 
of the town. M. Odent, accused of being privy to 
this act, was, after a mockery of a trial, shot in a 
field at the neighboring commune of Chamant. Six 
other hostages had previously been shot and buried 
in the same field. 

(An interesting excursion for motorists is the fol- 
lowing: To Chantilly, leaving Paris by the Porte de 
Clichy, via Asnieres, Gennevilliers, Epinay, Saint- 
Gratien, Soisy, Eaubonne, Montlignon, Moisselles, 

148 



EXCURSIONS TO THE BATTLEFIELDS 

Viarmes, Royaumont, Le Lys, Gouvieux (twenty- 
eight miles). After visiting Chantilly, proceed to 
Scnlis, five and one-half miles; return to Paris via 
Pontarme, Louvre and Le Bourget, which was an 
important center of military transport communica- 
tions and an aeroplane center.) 

IxiiKiMs, with its wonderful Cathedral, which suf- 
fered so much, as every one knows, from the bom- 
bardments of the Germans, and the Champagne bat- 
tlefields, are most interesting excursions from Paris. 
'A visit to the neighboring battlefield of Champagne 
is easily made on the same day, enabling the tour- 
ist to return to Paris the same evening. (Leaving the 
Gare de I'Est, Eastern Railway, at seven fifty-five, 
Rheims is reached just before noon. After lunch, 
there is plenty of time for visiting the Cathedral 
and the city, besides a trip by motor-car to one of 
the battlefields. For those who can do it more 
leisurely, an interesting afternoon may be passed in 
Rheims itself, and the battlefields seen next day. 
There are several good hotels at Rheims.) 

Rheims Cathedral was the scene of the Corona- 
tion of a long line of French kings, from Clovis to 
Charles X, the most famous of all being that of 
Charles VII in 1429, when Joan of Arc stood be- 
side him holding her white banner. Mary Stuart 
spent a portion of her childhood at Rheims, her 
uncle, Cardinal Charles of Lorraine, being Arch- 
bishop of the city. One of the most important and 
thriving cities in this part of the country in the 

149 



PRESEI^T DAY PARIS 

middle ages, Rheims had not sunk into being merely 
a shell of its former self. It remained and still 
remains an important center owing to its various 
manufactures, but chiefly to the wine industry, as it 
is the center of the foaming wine of Champagne. 
Just before the war a census showed a population 
of 175,000. Medieval remains in Rheims were 
particularly numerous and interesting, Nearly all 
these have been destroyed by the German fire. 

Of the various churches erected on the site now 
occupied by Rheims Cathedral between the fifth and 
ninth centuries, no vestige remains. The one de- 
stroyed by fire in 1210 was, according to the testi- 
mony of contemporary historians, the finest in 
France. It was replaced in the course of thirty 
years by an immense and superb Cathedral erected 
according to the designs of Robert de Coucy. Grow- 
ing side by side with the growth of the kingdom, 
it was one of the finest in Europe for its unity and 
the harmony of its proportions. The lightness 
added to grandeur of the Cathedral struck all be- 
holders, while the wonderful Gothic carvings, the 
richly decorated West front, and the sculptured 
angels in great numbers all around the building 
have led to its being called the "Cathedral of An- 
gels." M. Paul Adam beautifully remarked in his 
work on Rheims that they look as if they were about 
to fly off with the Cathedral and its congregation to 
heaven. The interior of the edifice is simple, and 
some connoisseurs preferred the Church of St. Remi 

150 



EXCURSIONS TO THE BATTLEFIELDS 

for the beauty and harmony of its interior. It was 
at this church, the origin of which was coeval with 
the birth of Christianity, that the remains of St. 
Eemi are supposed to have been buried in 350 A. D. 
The Germans were in Rheims only from Septem- 
ber 3 to September 12, when they retired on ac- 
count of the Mome victory. But the trials of 
Rheims were only beginning when the enemy de- 
parted. On the day of their departure a hurricane 
of fire and steel began falling on the city. The 
bombardment of the Cathedral began on September 
19 from the German positions to the north of the 
city, and it was speedily set on fire. The deed 
aroused a cry of rage and indignation throughout 
the civilized world. Besieged for 1,479 days, 
Rheims was bombarded for 1,051. The worst pe- 
riods were between the middle of March and the 
middle of April, 1917, when over 100,000 shells 
fell, and the summer of 1918 when the city suffered 
worst of all, though by then, the remaining ciTil popu- 
lation had gone and Rheims was left to the military. 
Great portions of Rheims will have to be entirely re- 
built, like many other cities that suffered so much on 
the front. 

Berry-au-Bac, which was the scene of so many 
frightful struggles, and where the twisted iron of the 
famous sugar works still stands to attest to the fury 
of the fire, is some miles out of Rheims on the road 
to the north. To the loft stretches the ridge known 

151 



PKESENT DAY PARIS 

as tHe Chemin des Dames; on the right are Kogent 
I'Abesse and Moronvilliers, whence the German guns 
bombarded the city. Between here and Soissons and 
the quarries around it there was great fighting be- 
tween September 12 and October 8, 1914. For long 
the Germans held almost impregnable positions, and 
the Allies had to dig in and chase the enemy from 
trench to trench. In the French victory on the Aisne 
(April-May, 1917) thousands of Germans were cap- 
tured and hundreds of guns and important positions 
taken. In October, 1918, the Germans were forced to 
evacuate their positions in this region. The hill be- 
yond Berry-au-Bac to the right is Hill 108, which 
was tunneled and mined over and over again, some 
of the biggest mine craters on the battle front being 
here, and the slaughter at times was terrible. 

About five and three-quarter miles to the southeast 
of Rheims, by the Chalons Road, is the Fort de la 
Pompelle, which was the chief defense of Rheims. 
The torn and shell-shattered condition of the road 
testifies what struggles took place there too, for all 
this territory was under the guns at Berru, Nogent 
TAbesse, Cornillet and other heights which we see in 
the distance. It is difficult to realize that this mass 
of chumed-up, chalky soil is a fortress, and indeed 
there is very little left to-day of the fortress, which 
was taken and retaken several times, though it was 
never in German hands for more than a few hours. 

It is of this region — the Fort de la Pompelle and 
152 



EXCURSIONS TO THE BATTLEFIELDS 

Ecrmo d' Alger, on tlio other side of the road — that 
the famous American poet Ahm Seeger writes in some 
stirring lines in one of his poems and (more guard- 
edly) in some letters to his mother which have been 
published : 

I'^ndor the little crosses where they rise 

The soldier rests . . . 

There the grape-pickers at their harvesticg: 

Shall lightly tread and load their wicker trays, 

Blessing his memory as they toil and sing 

In the slant sunshine of October days. 

Aebas, Vimt, Lens, forming the center of most 
interesting battle areas, can all be visited in one day 
from Paris, leaving the city in the early morning by 
train (from the Northern Station) for Arras, and 
motoring thence to Lens through Vimy and over tlie 
renowned ridge and back to Arras. (Both luncheon 
and dinner can be taken on the train, which saves 
time.) To go by automobile all the way from Paris 
and back takes longer, though the trip will be found 
to be well worth while. The railway line passes 
through St. Denis, Chantilly, and Longueau, which 
with Amiens was the crucial point of the railway 
traffic during the war, attacks on this spot becoming 
very intense about the time of the Somme offensive 
in 1916. From Corbie the devastated region begins 
(this is the Valley of the Ancre), and the line from 
here to Albert was occupied by the Germans after 
their offensive of March, 1918. Albert is passed — a 
battered and pathetic ruin. 

153 



PEESENT D2\Y PARIS 

Abkas, tlie one-time capital of the Artois, was an 
important place in Roman times, and as early as the 
fourth century was known for its manufacture of 
woolen goods, the luxury of which is said to have 
shocked St. Jerome, and its tapestries. St. Vaast 
established the Christian religion here, and the 
Counts of Flanders took up their residence in the 
city. It belonged successively to the Kings of France, 
the Counts of Flanders, the Counts of Artois (under 
whom, 1180-1384, it had its greatest splendor), the 
Dukes of Burgundy, the Kings of Spain, and again 
the Kings of France. It was the scene of tourna- 
ments, jousts and other medieval festivals, and the 
burghers of the time became so wealthy that they 
lent money to the Kings and to other cities. Also 
in the age of St. Louis Arras was the literary capital 
of Latin civilization, as Rheims was the religious cen- 
ter. In later years it was the birthplace of the two 
Revolutionary leaders, Robespierre and Lazare 
Carnot. 

Architecturally, Arras was chiefly celebrated for 
the two magnificent squares, the Petite Place and the 
Grande Place, which were surrounded by houses uni- 
form in style, with gables from the time of the Span- 
ish domination (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries). 
On the ground they were surrounded by an arcaded 
gallery with monolith sandstone columns. There were 
seventy-five houses with one hundred and eighty-two 
columns in the Grande Place; fifty-two houses and 
one hundred and nine columns in the Petite Place, 

154 



EXCURSIONS TO THE BATTLEFIELDS 

and in the Rue do la Taillcrie, which joins the two 
and is in the same style, twenty-three houses and 
fifty-four columns. These places were the center and 
soul of tho town, where jousts and popular rejoicings 
took place and sometimes meetings of discontent, 
when trouhle was brewing. The Hotel do Ville, on 
the Petite Place, was one of the finest in JSTorthern 
Franco. Tho Belfry, which was the great pride of 
Arras, was begun in 1463, because the echevins had 
no belfry for municipal needs. On the top of it 
stood the bronze Lion of Arras, otherwise called the 
"Lion of Flanders," which leaned against a lance 
carrying a sun with the coat-of-arms of the city 
and serving as a weather gauge. 

The battle raged furiously round Arras from Sep- 
tember 2, 1914, Tintil 1916, and all that time the city 
was under fire, the Germans bombarding it from fif- 
teen miles away, though at one time they were as 
near as three hundred yards. On October 7, 1914, 
tlie Hotel de Ville caught fire. On the 21st a hail of 
heavy shells fell on the Belfry, and the eighty-ninth 
caused it to fall, with its Lion. Early in October, 
too, thousands of shells began falling on the Grande 
Place, and in one fire one hundred and twenty houses 
were destroyed. The destruction was continued and 
nearly completed in February, 1916. The Cathedral 
is now also a vast and imposing ruin. 

Of the two Battles of Arras, the first raged round 
the city from April 8, to June 6, 1917, and resulted 
in a victory for the British troops, the important 

155 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

position of Vimy Ridge being taken, with about 
20,000 German prisoners. The second Battle of 
Arras was fought from August 26, to September 3, 
1918, following the victory at Amiens, when the 
Germans fell back on the further defenses of the 
Hindenburg line. 

About half-way between Arras and Lens, the great 
coal-mining center of France, is Yimy Ridge, which 
was the scene of prolonged struggles and was taken 
and retaken several times, being finally captured by 
the Canadians, who had fought for nearly two years 
in the locality, on April 9, 1917. The deed is com- 
memorated by a simple but massive masonry monu- 
ment, and the ridge has been presented by the Com- 
mune to the Canadian Government, which will prob- 
ably erect another memorial. 

The strategical importance of a place like Vimy is 
apparent, as it is an unsurpassed observation post 
over the country for fifteen miles round, while in the 
sunken road between the two sides of the Ridge batta- 
lions of men could be massed almost unperceived. 

Lens was before the war a prosperous town of 
35,000 inhabitants, and the center of a population of 
100,000 all engaged in coal mining, for this is the 
French "Black Country." There is no scene of ruin 
and desolation on the whole battle front to be com- 
pared with this big town, in which one passes through 
street after street where scarcely a brick is left on 
another, all being ground to dust and white powder. 
Lens is the center of some twenty coal pits, and was 

156 



EXCURSIONS TO THE BATTLEFIELDS 

the most important mining district in the Pas-de- 
Calais, more than 4,000,000 tons having been brought 
to the surface in 1913 (one tenth of the total French 
production). Some 16,000 workmen were employed. 
All the pits were flooded and destroyed in the war, 
and machinery, workshops, means of communication 
and transport, buildings all wrecked to such an extent 
that years will still be required to get them in work- 
ing order again. 

Amiens (on the Northern of France Railway and 
on one of the direct routes between London and 
Paris) is one of France's famous cities, and has 
played an interesting role in its history. Its Cathe^ 
dral 13 the most perfect example of Gothic art and 
one of the finest churches in Europe, besides being 
the largest in France. Built from 1220 to 1288, 
its sculptures are amongst the finest remaining from 
the middle ages and a highly remarkable summary 
of the religious art and thought of former times. 

Owing to its strategical position, Amiens was 
frequently the objective of the German armies, and 
was in especial danger after the Battle of Charleroi, 
owing to von Kluck's efforts to turn the retreating 
Allied armies' left wing. Entering on the last day 
of August, 1914, they requisitioned goods and money 
and took hostages from among the leading citizens, 
but after the Battle of the Marne they were forced 
to leave the city on September 11. From this date 
until March, 1918, Amiens was saved from the at- 
tentions of the enemy — a fact of very great impor- 

157 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

tance for the Allies' military traffic. But even then 
the nearest approach of the enemy was some ten miles 
avvay. From this time until well on in June Amiens 
was subjected to heavy bombardments from aerial 
torpedoes and other missiles, besides a long range 280 
gun, which the Australians captured near Villers- 
Bretonneux. 

Luckily the Cathedral, although hit several times, 
was very little damaged, thanks to the great care 
that had been taken in protecting it. 

Veedun is reached from Paris by the Eastern of 
France Railway (Gare de I'Est), passing through 
Meaux, Epernay, Chalons-sur-Marne and Ste. Mene- 
houlde. More than one day should be given to this 
trip. Another favorite way is to go on to Verdun 
via Ste. Menehoulde by automobile from Rheims, by 
which the tourist can view the whole extent of the 
Champagne battle front in its various phases, the 
Forest of the Argonne, etc. 

Verdun is a very old fortified town on the Roman 
road from Rheims to !Metz, and was one of the three 
Bishoprics (with lletz and Toul), dating from the 
fourth century, which played a great part in the hisr 
tory of France, being handed over with Alsace to 
this country by the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. 
Verdun was bombarded by the Prussians in 1792, 
while in 1870, after a stubborn resistance, it capit- 
ulated to the Prussians with all the honors of war 
and was occupied by them until the war indemnity 
was paid off in 1873. 

158 



, EXCUESIONS TO THE BATTLEFIELDS 

The interest of Verdun lies rather in its position 
as one of the foremost frontier fortresses than in 
anything it contains in the way of buildings, for its 
Cathedral is not particularly interesting. 

But its name is associated with the most heroic 
struggles of the war. The first great effort after the 
Marne of the Germans to break through the front 
was at Verdun in 1916. The condition of the streets 
to-day shows how severely and persistently the town 
was bombarded. Xearly all the interesting old houses 
have disappeared, and none of the public buildings 
were spared. As at Bheims the shelling (chiefly in 
the early part of 1916) was directed principally at 
the religious buildings and hospitals. 

Verdun was made the target of the enemy's fero- 
cious attacks, because the town and the fortresses 
surrounding it constituted a standing menace to the 
communications of the German army and were a 
danger to the fortress of IMetz, while Verdun was 
also the base of the offensive movement which the 
French were preparing in Lorraine. Had Verdun 
fallen at the time of the repeated attacks of the 
Crown Prince's legions, the French positions of the 
Argonne would have been laid bare and the French 
would have been compelled to "rectify" their entire 
front and abandon some six hundred square miles 
of territory to the enemy. There were other and 
political reasons dictating these attacks, and as the 
pick of the German troops were on this front, a 
striking success was felt to be necessary. Besides 

159 



PEESENT DAY PAKIS 

all these reasons there was the pressing need on 
the part of the Germans to possess the Briey coal 
basin, which can almost be seen from the Fort of 
Vaux and the military key to which Verdun is. 

But the defenses of Verdun were the acme and 
combination of all the devices of the art of fortifica- 
tion as it has been studied from the middle ages 
until the most recent times. 

Erom Verdun it is only a short motorcar ride to 
the two famous Forts, Vaux and Douaumont, whose 
names will be remembered for ages to come as sym-' 
bolical of French heroism. "No words can give an] 
adequate description of this land between Verdun' 
and the forts where the fearsome struggle began in' 
February, 1916. A few shriveled tree trunks mark 
the site of what once were woods. Villages that! 
were as stubbornly fought for as if they were stores 
of gold are mere heaps of dust. From the top of the 
fort of Vaux one sees the plain across which the 
enemy hurled their serried masses again and again 
under the guns of the fortress. 

It was on June 7, that small heroic garrison under 
Commandant Raynal had to capitulate, as they were 
unable to obtain further food or reenforcements, since 
the enemy had already taken possession of the top 
of the fort. 

Furious fighting took place all through the sum- 
mer, and regiment after regiment was sacrificed bj 
the Germans, but Vaux was retaken by the French 
on November 3, 1916. 

160 



EXCURSIONS TO THE BATTLEFIELDS 

The attack on Douaumont was the most ferocious 
that had up till then taken place. One hundred 
thousand of the most terrible German shells fell on 
it, and by the evening of February 25, the fort was 
"but a ruin. It was on this dat« that the Germans 
began a series of mass attacks in serried ranks five 
or six deep which were met by a French division 
charged to oppose their passage at all costs. They 
wavered, grew confused, and fell back in disorder, 
leaving the ground covered with their dead. The 
massed attacks during the succeeding days to take 
the plateau of Douaumont were as bloody as anything 
during the war. The snow that had fallen was red 
with blood, but still the Germans came on singing 
songs of victory and trying to shelter behind the 
bodies of their dead. Finally the main body of the 
French had to retire, leaving a rear-guard, who con- 
tested the ground foot by foot. The subsequent coun- 
ter-attack led by General Petain was so impetuous 
that the Germans, taken by surprise, in spite of the 
slaughter that had been made in their ranks by the 
artillery preparation, were thrown back to beyond 
the ruins of the fort. The German effort was defin- 
itely broken. On October 24, the French attack on 
Douaumont was begun, led by General Mangin, and 
the fort was taken the same day. The whole of 
this front was retaken in 1918 by the Allied troops, 
valiantly aided by the Americans, the way thus being 
prepared for the final victory. 

The French artillery fire was more intense and 
161 



PKESENT DAY PARIS 

destructive during the engagements round Verdun, 
than at any time during the war. At times five hun- 
dred batteries would be booming simultaneously. 
Rivers disappeared under the hurricane of fire, and 
hills were turned almost inside out. The death roll 
on both sides was terrible, but especially so on the 
German side. 

It was on September 26, 1918, while the Fourth 
French army was attacking between the Moronvilliers 
heights and the Argonne that the American army, led 
by General Pershing, took up the offensive between 
the Argonne and the Meuse and made a determined 
attack on the left bank of the Meuse. Malancourt, 
Bethincourt, Forges, and other villages soon fell to 
them, and their artillery crossed the Forges brook. 
They cleared the woods of the enemy as they ad- 
vanced, and later in the day a battle was taking 
place for the German stronghold of Montfaucon, a 
prominent observation post. By the evening it was 
surrounded, and two days later this place and others 
were in the hands of the Americans. On the right 
bank of the Meuse, the Americans, also under Persh- 
ing, working with a French araiy corps, took Bra- 
bant, Haumont, the Wood des Caures, and over- 
passed the line whence in February, 1916, the Crown 
Prince had thrown his "storm troops" on to Verdun. 
By the end of October, both banks of the Meuse 
were freed from the enemy, who in the month lost 
over 20,000 prisoners and large numbers of guns of 
all calibers. 

162 



EXCUKSIONS TO THE BATTLEFIELDS 

A few miles north of Verdun is the American 
sbrino of Rommjne, where in the cemetery 22,000 
American youth are buried. 

Saint-Mijiiel is best visited from Verdun. En 
route, Vigneulles was an objective of the Allies since 
it was a German concentration point. Saint-Mihiel 
has been called the "twenty-seven hour, clean-cut 
American victory." Here the menace of the German 
grip of the Erench lines, harassing railway conmiu- 
nications, was destroyed by American troops, who in 
three days captured the entire salient and 15,000 
prisoners. The forts of Gerincourt and Haudainville 
are crumbled heaps, the result of the battering of 
long-distance guns. 

Ypres and the battlefields of which it is the center 
can be reached from London via Calais or Boulogne 
and St. Omer, which was a British base, where Lord 
Roberts died while visiting the army. From Paris it 
is best to go via Lille, spend the night there (excel- 
lent and comfortable hotels) and visit Ypres and the 
battlefield the next day by automobile. 

Lille, a large and thriving manufacturing tovm, 
which in the middle ages rivaled Antwerp and Am- 
sterdam and is to-day the fourth town in France, 
was in possession of the Germans nearly all through 
the war. The town was comparatively little dam' 
aged, though there are whole streets and numerous 
public buildings that have greatly suffered. But the 
invaders treated the inhabitants with great severity 
and cruelty, numbers were arrested for treason or 

103 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

on otlier charges, and a number were shot. The occu- 
pation of Lille and its suburbs was rendered particu- 
larly notorious, however, by the deportations of young 
girls and youths to perform field work and — accord- 
ing to the testimony of some — for even worse pur- 
poses. Some 25,000 persons (mostly women and 
children) were thus taken into slavery. 

Ypkes is reached from Lille via Roubaix, Tour- 
coing and the famous Menin Road, the Belgian fron- 
tier being crossed. Here the fighting took place in 
"Flanders mud." The visitor can see the so-called 
"tank cemetery" and view the sites of woods, cha- 
teaux, villages and even a cemetery of which no 
vestiges exist, all blown away by shell fire ! 

Ypres was one of the most famous of the cities of 
the Low Countries. Its history has been tragic and 
romantic, for it was the scene of fratricidal struggles 
all through the ages. The Cloth Hall (Halle des Dra- 
peries) was built by the Guild of the cloth merchants 
in the thirteenth century as an exchange and ware- 
house. This wonderful building — the finest example 
of early ogival architecture existing — astonishing by 
the ponderous mass of its rectilinear architecture. 
The town hall, or IN'ieuwerke, adjoining the larger 
hall, was a graceful structure in Renaissance style, 
added in the seventeenth century. As all the world 
knows to-day, neither of these superb buildings, nor 
the Church of St. Martin nor any of the many inter- 
esting medieval buildings of Ypres has survived the 
volley of shells that were fired on them by the infu- 

164 



EXCURSIONS TO THE BATTLEFIELDS 

riated enemy, and Ypros is nothing but a sacred ruin. 
The Gorman attacks began at the end of October, 
1914, and though frequently repeated, they were 
never able to take the town. They started firing in- 
cendiary bombs in November, and towards the end 
of that month the Hallo was entirely in flames, while 
the Nieuwerke, being lighter in structure, was en- 
tirely demolished in a week or two. It was in the 
battles round Ypres that the enemy first made use of 
poison gases, and later of liquid flames. 

The return journey to Lille is usually made via 
Armentieres and Bailleul, passing Mont Kemmel, 
while it is not much further to push on to other "hot" 
places of the war — Messines, Bethune, La Bassee, all 
of which are full of interest for the visitor. 

To visit the battlefield of the Somme tourists are 
advised to go from Paris (Gare du Nord) to either 
Longueau or Albert, and thence make the tour by 
car. At Albert will be seen the wreckage of the fam- 
ous modern Cathedral of Notre Dame, which gave 
rise to one of the curious prophecies of the war. 
On the top of the tower stood a statue of the Virgin 
in copper, holding the infant Jesus in her arms, and 
when the bombardment began, in November, 1914, 
the statue, struck by a shell on the pedestal, leaned 
right over the church (a thousand pictures have im- 
mortalized it). Both the British troops and the peas- 
ants had a saying, which originated one does not know 
how, that when the statue fell the war would end, 
and that it would terminate in the defeat of that 

1G5 



PRESENT DAY PARIS 

side whicli at the time was in possession of Albert. 
The statue fell shortly before the end of the war 
while the Germans were in Albert. 

The valley of the Somme is entered at Villers- 
Bretonneux, where the gallant Australians have made 
an imperishable name. Peronne, an interesting old 
town and the seat of a famous, ancient Irish monas- 
tery, resisted the attacks of 1914, but fell to the 
enemy in 1916, and became a German stronghold. 
Bapaume is another tragic ruin, most of its buildings 
and monuments having been mined before the Ger- 
mans evacuated it in 1917. Retaken by the Germans, 
it was finally recaptured in August 1918 by the I^ew 
Zealanders. Le Sars, Courcelette, La Boisselle, and 
other notable places are seen — or the sites of them. 

Cambeai and St. Quentin are best visited separ- 
ately from Amiens. Cambrai is famous in the arts 
of peace for its manufacture of fine cambric. The 
British attack on this town in ISTovember, 1917, was 
one of the most dramatic episodes in the whole war. 
St. Quentin is one of the most interesting of the old 
Erench towns and takes its name from a famous 
martyr who was done to death after torture by a 
Prefect of the Gauls for insulting the majesty of the 
Roman Emperor. 





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